West's world
by kiwikid
Summary: A series of short stories featuring Donald and Judy West and their adventures in the Pegasus Galaxy as part of the Atlantis team. Features guest appearances from the Robinsons and Dr Smith.
1. Chapter 1

West's world

A series of short stories featuring Don and Judy West and their adventures with the Atlantis team, with appearances from other characters as well.

Day 1- Jumper 13

Don West awoke looking at a drab ceiling above him instead of the beautiful sky he and Judy had been living under for the last 2 weeks. They'd returned from the Mainland, to this their quarters in the city of Atlantis just yesterday. Today was his first offical day as a member of the Atlantis team. It was also the day he was going to be undergoing 'training' at the hands of Ronon Dex. The man was huge, intimidating and said very little. He had already held a gun on him then tried to strangle him, so they had not gotten off to a good start. Of course Ronon now knew he was no traitor, but he was still not going to go easy on him. Don knew that worrying about that encounter would achieve very little. It was better to just get it over with. He climbed out of bed and wandered off to the shower. Judy had left one hour earlier to start her duty with the botany team. He was sure his wife would enjoy studying alien plant life. As the water washed over him Don tried not to feel nervous about his own role in Atlantis. He had a mutant form of the ATA gene and thus was the most interesting thing around at the moment. He was sure the novelty value would wear off for the scientists and he'd stop feeling like he was some type of experimental creature, they could poke and prod whenever they wished.

Stepping out of the shower he dressed himself in uniform. Once he had checked that all his clothing was in order he braced himself and stepped out of his quarters and into the corridor. He made his way to Colonel Sheppard's office first to report for duty. There were just a few other people in the corridors and most of them stared at him as he strolled past. Don smiled ,nodded and kept on walking.

Finally he made it to Sheppard's office and stepped inside the doors. He looked at the man behind the desk, he looked harried and stressed. Something must have happened Don realized, as Sheppard was not sitting in his own chair, Evan was. Of course since he was on duty, he had better keep his address formal, "Morning Sir, Major Donald West reporting for duty", he stated. Evan looked momentarily startled, "oh gosh, I forgot you were due back on duty today Don", he remarked. "Things are a bit crazy at the moment , Dr Weir, Colonel Sheppard, Dr McKay, Ronon and Teyla were called away suddenly last night to deal with an offworld emergency, so that leaves me in charge of the base", Evan grimaced and indicated a pile of papers in front of him, "there's a lot to deal with, so I am prioritising". Evan paused and offered his friend a smile, "welcome back", he said, "sit down Don and for goodness sake drop the formality when we are alone." Don sat himself in a chair, "Colonel Sheppard left a schedule for you", Evan told Don. He rifled around amongst the papers, and was about to pull one out and start explaining it to Don when the door opened and a young female Lieutenant stormed inside. She was obviously agitated, "Sir, it's not fair, I just learnt that Iv'e been grounded. That jumper accident was not my fault. You have to put things right".

Don shifted restlessly, we knew this young officer had not even noticed his presence. "Lieutenant Jarvis", Lorne stated formally, "I have a meeting scheduled with you at 1300 hours. There are a few others things that I need to do before I review your case and make a decision". It defintely sounded like a dismissal, but Lt. Jarvis did not leave. "That's too long", she replied firmly, "everyone is already blaming me for the accident and that type of allegation is always very damaging. It's that bloody, umm", she coloured, "jumper 13 sir, that thing is unlucky". Lorne frowned in a way that did not bode well for this officer, "Lt. There is not such thing as an unlucky jumper", he sifted around amongst the papers and pulled out a small pile. Quickly flicking through the report ,he looked at highlighted portions, "It says the jumper has been fully checked and no faults were found".

The younger officer now looked like she was going to cry, "I know what it says but it also was not pilot error. Sir ,please I need someone else to check out he jumper". Lorne almost ground his teeth as he felt the pressure, soon he was going to have other people in here screaming at him to do something about their issues. "Lt. you are going to have to wait for Colonel Sheppard to return from offworld ,we haven't got any other pilot that can put a jumper through the rigorous testing..", he broke off and suddenly caught the eyes of his friend who had wisely not said one word so far. "I could take a look at this jumper Major," Don acknowledged, "testing craft was what I used to do in the air force afterall. So I am well qualified to deal with this matter".

Lt. Jarvis had gone a little pink as she noticed Major Lorne was not alone for the first time. "Lieutenant, this is Major West, he will help you with your problem. Major could you give me a report on the matter before 1300 hours please",Evan requested. 'Yes, Sir", acknowledged Don. With the others off world his encounter with Ronon had been postponed anyway so he might as well be of use. Now he thought about it, he wondered if he was at the moment technically the XO of Atlantis. Maybe he would not want that type of responsibility so he better not ask. He stood up and gestured for the young Lieutenant to walk in front of him. They left the office.

"So Lt. Jarvis, how long have you been flying",Don asked. "Already three years Sir", answered Lt Jarvis. "I qualified top of my class and since I also possess the ATA gene I was accepted for a posting here at Atlantis". I know my stuff sir", she stated firmly. Don accepted that, but knew it was his job to determine where the actual fault lay. They arrived in the jumper bay and the Lieutenant pointed at one of the squat little ships, "thats her number 13", she stated. "Only if you count from bottom upward", Don pointed out. "Yeah I guess so sir. It does sound like superstition and that is not something we should think about as pilots. But this jumper has already been involved in a few incidents", Kimberly Jarvis reported. "Tell me about them" ,Don requested "Well sir, a few pilots have suffered sudden loses of power with systems that just cut out without any warning", Kim explained. "Is that what happened to you Lieutenant", Don asked. "Yes sir, I was escorting a group of scientist back from P17745 when I lost control of the jumper, with the flight stabilisers losing power suddenly. The ride back became very bumpy and made most of them suffer motion sickness. Eventually I lost all ability to control the craft and made a hard landing. No one was actually hurt, but the scientist all complained that I'd done it on purpose", she explained. Don looked her over, "is there any reason why they would make a claim like that Lt. Jarvis" , he asked seriously. He was wondering about tension between scientists and military personal. The young officer coloured slightly, "yeah I supposed I have vented a negative opinion about scientists Major. But I would not put their lives in danger". Unfortunately what I said is probably in that report on Major Lorne's desk".Kim wished she could take those words back now.

"Thank you for telling me Lieutenant, I need to know details like that if I am going to help you", Don told her. Kim sagged a little as relief flooded over her. Finally someone that actually believed her and was prepared to do something to help. "Thank you sir, I honestly thought my career as a pilot might have been screwed",she told Don. "I will do my best to find out what did happen to your jumper Lieutenant", Don told her. He believed she was being honest with him.

Don walked around the jumper talking a good look at her. Of course she was the same as all the others so this physical inspection told him nothing. He just did it out of habit, to familiarise himself with the craft. "The only way to find out what is going on is to take her up and you can show me what happened", Don remarked when he'd finished his visual inspection. He entered the jumper and sat himself in the pilots seat. The young officer sat beside him and looked over at him speculatively , "you're that Major, aren't you", she said, "the one with the mutant gene". "Yes ,thats me",Don agreed, "don't be concerned about that it should not interfere with my ability to fly this craft". "I wasn't worried sir, more like curious", she told him as she gave him a particularly frank glance that was a little unnerving.

"Yeah I think others feel the same", Don stated. "For my part I would like to just do my job. So let's get on with testing this craft, he told her in that formal no nonsense voice of a commanding officer. She went a little pink he noticed."Atlantis control, this Is Major Donald West in Jumper 13 requesting clearance for a test flight", he asked. "This is Atlantis control Major West, clearance granted". Don flew the jumper up and out of the roof top, then set course for the mainland. "We will just do a few circuits and see what happens", he told his co pilot. She looked nervous Don decided. Of course if this flight went well it would raise awkward questions for her. So far the jumper had handled normally with no sign of any issues. Don set about trying out some standard manuevers. "Nothing bad is happening, I am so screwed", Lt. Jarvis stated after a few more minutes had passed. "I'll get sent back home and goodness knows if I will ever fly again".

"We have not finished yet Lt. ",Don told her," so don't pack your bags". He flew the jumper straight upward then dived it back down. He had just levelled out again when a warning light began to flash and he heard the change in the jumpers engines. "Well, well, that looks like a problem to me ", Don stated, as he felt the jumper slow. It then began to shake. Lt Jarvis was looking inside the panel trying to determine what the problem might be. "Everything looks normal in here sir", she remarked. The jumper shook even more violently, then suddenly the engines simply stopped and they dropped like a stone. "Oh hell", Don stated. He knew if he could not correct the problem they would end up in the ocean. Everything in front of him was dead and would not respond to anything he did to try and correct things. Lt. Jarvis was also having no luck inside the control panel.

It was time to call for help. "This is jumper 13 declaring an emergency, I have lost all power and are descending toward the ocean", Don told Atlantis control. "Well she is water proof, so we should be alright", Lt Jarvis announced as they fell from the sky. Her pinkness had failed and now she was pale and clenched the console in front of her tightly.

"Jumper 13, we will dispatch search and rescue immediately", Atlantis control told Don. The shaking increased as they descended and Don actually began to feel sick. Lt. Jarvis was now green and obviously trying hard not to vomit and embarrass herself. Don estimated they were only 2 minutes from impact when the engines suddenly fired again and the jumper rose upward .

Lt. Jarvis let out an audible sigh of relief. "'I agree Lieutenant, lets make our way back to the jumper bay", Don told her." My report will state this this jumper has an unspecified issue that makes it dangerous. I will advise that it be decommissioned until the fault can be found. You will be off the hook for the charge of pilot error, but I do suggest you try and smooth things out with those scientists as a bad working relationship could also reflect upon your record." He knew that all to well but did not share his own history with this young officer. He did not know her well enough yet to be trusting with personal knowledge.

"I understand sir, I will do as you suggest and thank you for helping me", Lt Jarvis stated. She was so relieved that she actually wanted to hug the young Major beside her. That definitely was not protocol though and she held off. She would buy him lunch or a drink or something later to say thanks.

Don kept an eye on the instruments as he slowed the jumper down again as they reentered the city limits. They were about 2 minutes away from the jumper bay when everything in front of him suddenly flashed red and the jumper vered off course. "What the hell", Don exclaimed. "Don't do that, get back on course". The jumper did not listen, stubbornly refusing every effort to return to the jumper bay. Instead it was circling the city and all the flashing lights meant something was seriously wrong. Don could hear another change in the jumpers engines, they were straining this time, like power was building up within them. "Every bloody system is rerouting its power to the engines", Lt Jarvis warned him as she checked the systems again. "If the power keeps climbing the engine will over load and explode". Since the city was only mere metres away that defintely would not be good. "Damn you",Don swore. He contacted Atlantis control again, "this is jumper 13, declaring another emergency, the jumper is locked onto a course around the city and the engines are overloading. The ship will explode in" , Don looked at his co pilot who held up two hands , "10 minutes". I recommended evacuating everyone you can from the northern part of the city." "We will work on the issue in the meantime in hope of correcting the problem". Don was surprised his voice was not shaking. "Acknowledged Jumper 13, keep this channel open and good luck", control told him.

Don could imagine that he had just crreated a chaotic scene within the city.

He was n't wrong. Evan was in the middle of a meeting with 2 angry people when he got the message that sections of Atlantis were being evacuated because a jumper was in trouble. He felt himself go cold all over. "What is the problem", he asked control. 'Major West states his engines are overloading. Our own readings confirm this. That jumper is effectively a flying bomb capable of taking out a fair portion of the City if it hits us"

Evan knew that Don was used to solving problems in earth aircraft and he would not have been worried about this situation had they been on Earth. But jumpers were filled with ancient technology that was barely understandable. With the limited time they had available the problem with the jumper may not be able to be solved. Evan swallowed hard as he thought about the fact that Don had only been married two weeks and he was going to have to be the one who told Judy Robinson what was happening.

"Everyone we need to evacuate now", Judy's supervisor Doctor Kyle told her staff. She quickly left the plant sample she had been studying and moved to join her other colleagues at the emergency exit. Judy passed the window as she went and took a look outside. She could clearly see a jumper flying erractically and looping closer to their location. "Looks like a pilot is in trouble", one of her colleagues muttered as she took hold of her arm and tried to move her forward. Of course that could be any pilot, but why did Judy have this cold feeling at the bottom of her stomach. "Well it can't be Sheppard, he's off world", a technician stated as he ran past.

That comment had her shaking violently. Her colleague saw her rapidly pale and quickly gestured to another workmate to help her pull Judy out of the laboratory. "What is wrong Mrs West", Doctor Kyle asked. "My husband is a pilot", Judy managed to stutter. Doctor Kyle had forgotten that fact. He made sure two people stayed with Judy while they hurried to a safe zone.

"We are going to have to disrupt all the systems", Don told Lieutenant Jarvis," unfortuntely we will lose any functionality at the same time". He looked down noting how close to buildings they were flying. The jumper was still flying a circuit, and the engine power continued to climb into dangerous levels. It was up to him as the highest ranked officer to decide on a course of action."When the jumper starts another loop there will be a moment when it is facing out toward the sea. It is at that point that flight controls will be disabled . Unfortunately leaving the ship on auto pilot is not going be of use. Someone has to be here on board to make sure the ship reaches the ocean ", Don looked over at her," 'You need to jump out", he told his young co pilot. "What sir", Lt. Jarvis stuttered. 'I can lower the back ramp and you can jump onto that flat building there on the next pass. At least I can control the height of our flight and can fly low enough so that you will not seriously injure yourself. Of course it is still risky but gives you a better chance than trying to survive collision with one of those buildings", Don told her.

Lt Jarvis stared at him. "Sir, what about you", she asked. "I will have to take my chances Lieutenant," Don replied in a voice that did not shake even though he was scared. Keeping a brave face counted for a lot right now. Kimberly Jarvis swallowed hard knowing that his chances of surviving were fairly low. "Respectfully, but no sir, if we work together we could disable things a lot faster", she said firmly. 'Don knew that it was just a matter of timing and they did not need two of them for that. She was just desparately trying to get both of them out of this alive. He knew though that if he let her stay both of them could die. As the ranking officer it was up to him to make the sacrifice."Jump out , that's a order", he told her.

He contacted the control room again, "Lt. Jarvis is going to jump from the ship right on top of that square building. Please dispatch a medical team to retrieve her", Don requested. "I will stay with the jumper and disable flight controls so that I crash into the ocean rather than the city". He did not ask for search and rescue to be called because the jumper would in likelihood explode seconds after impact. "Acknowledged and good luck", was all the control personnel could bring themselves to say.

Evan was updated on the jumpers status a few seconds later. He went white and honestly felt like he was going to pass out when he heard what Don had planned. "Isn't there anything we can do", he begged. "No, sir there is simply not enough time. The Major's actions will ensure the least amount of casualities", control told him. "Yeah but he's not going to survive, isn't that what you are telling me",Evan choked out. "I am sorry sir but the odds are against him", the control rooms officer voice was breaking. "The overload will reach critical point at the same time the jumper hits the ocean". The water will damper the effects of the explosion which will help us, but not Major West".

So Don was going to die on his first offical day on the base. This was terrible, he felt so helpless. Being in charge gave him access to many resources, but not one of them would help his friend. "Can you locate Judy West for me control, I will have to tell her what is happening", Evan requested shakily. How on earth was he going to tell her this piece of news. Control took a few seconds to act on his request. "Sir Mrs West has just been taken to infirmary, she just passed out a few minutes ago. I think she has probably already guessed what is happening".

Evan left his office at a run heading for the infirmary. He did not want Judy to be alone right now.

"We will be at that roof in two minutes Lt. Jarvis, I am lowering the rear hatch, prepare yourself", Don requested. Lt. Jarvis, looked at him for one second longer before moving to the rear. She grabbed hold of a handrail as the rear of the jumper opened. "Good luck Lieutenant", Don told her. "You too sir", Lt, Jarvis stated. She saw the building just a few metres below and launched herself out of the rear hatch without further thought.

Then she was falling downward and positioned herself so that when she hit the roof she rolled over, dispersing the shook effect. Landing upon her legs would have shattered them she knew. It still hurt when she hit the roof, all air was driven out of her lungs by the shock of impact. She could feel herself loose consciousness. "Breathe", came a reassuring voice next to her. A medic stood there with oxygen. She let him put the mask on her face . Then she raised her head high enough to watch the jumper , Major West had about another minute before he could act on his plan.

"Alright you shit craft", Don swore, "I am afraid I am not going to be kind. There is only one way to disable everything quickly enough". He drew the weapon that rested at his side. "The holes are going to spoil your looks", he stated. Don did not really know why he was talking to the craft. It did help him not panic though. "Take that you shit", Don fired a shot straight through the console where the flight controls were located. Horrible white ooze snaked upward and dripped from his hole. "That is bloody disgusting", Don swore. He fired another shot, with the same result. The third shot made white ooze splatter upward all over him.

It also fried flight control. All of a sudden the jumper lurched out of its loop and veered off toward the ocean. Don found himself holding on tightly to the seat as the jumper flipped upside down, the back upright again. His whole body was feeling like he was in a blender right now. It would only last a few more minutes though because the ocean was in front of him.

Evan held Judy Robinson's hand as he told her that Don was going to crash into the sea. She went even whiter and started to sob loudly. Doctor Beckett was on hand with a mild sedative. He took her other hand in his own and held on tightly. Looking over at Evan, he could see that the Major too was in shock. The only thing he could do for either of them was just be there right up until the end.

Don blasted another hole in the console, just to vent his feelings of anger and helplessness to the unfeeling piece of metal that was seconds away from killing him. "You are the worst piece of junk I have ever flown", he told the jumper. "So much for advanced technology". You should just stop this right now and prove me wrong". He knew it was just the thought of imminent death making him say all these weird things to a ship.

The engines were screaming now as the jumper barrelled toward the ocean. Don closed his eyes. He did not want to watch the craft hit. Seconds later he opened his eyes again as he realised everything had gone quiet. Miraculously the engines had just cut out. Of course momentum was still driving the jumper forward and he braced himself as it smacked into the water.

He felt himself get thrown around, but the loss of power meant nothing shorted out or exploded . When water did not come flooding in on top of him Don knew that the jumper had not suffered any structural damage upon impact. Both he and the jumper were still in one piece.

The jumper was floating upon the surface of the water. Don finally managed to move, his legs felt rather like jelly as he staggered from the pilots seat. Moving to the rear he found the manual release for the hatch and moved it downward. He found that the jumper was just about 1 metre from the edge of the City. Not having the energy to swim he waited for the search and rescue craft to come and get him.

"Sir, you will be relieved to know that the jumper lost power before it hit the ocean. Major West is on the way to infirmary for a check up now. He seems a little shaken but other than that he's fine", Control reported to Major Lorne.

Judy and Evan both found relieved tears within their eyes.

They did not see Don when he arrived as he was taken into isolation. Evan found out the reason a few minutes later. "He had this white liquid all over him. It was also leaking from bullet holes in the console of the jumper. We are just running tests now to determine what this substance might be. I would recommend grounding all other jumpers until be have finished our analysis", Beckett told him. "Physically Major West is fine, no signs of any injuries", the CMO added. "

Don had to endure more tests until finally he was given the all clear. 'You will stay for observation for a couple of more hours", Beckett told him. "That is standard procedure after an accident like yours. You were bloody lucky son", he added. Don knew that all too well.

He was taken out into the main part of the infirmary where his bed was placed next to Judy's. He reached across to hold onto her hand tightly. A short time later both of them fell asleep.

When he awoke, he saw Colonel Sheppard sitting at the foot of his bed. He almost jumped up and saluted. "So Major, you've just be initiated into the Pegasus Galaxy wants to kill you club", Sheppard told him. "We have all been through days like yours".

Don did not find that reassuring. "What happened sir, Don asked. "Well that jumper had been infected with some type of alien lifeforms that could mimic natural components of the jumper. That is why checks never picked up the problem. These life forms lived of the energy from the jumper until they were ready to undergo a metamorphic change. Kind of like a caterpillar to a butterfly, yet a little more like the movie Alien. If they had reached that stage they would have migrated from that jumper to the others and created a hell of a problem. You and your weapon were the only thing that stopped them." Sheppard offered him a smile, 'sometimes shooting holes in everything does work". If you had just pulled everything out, we might not be having this conversation." "Beckett says he will release you soon. I will postpone your training with Ronon until tomorrow afternoon". Sheppard moved off after that, probably for some relaxation time himself.

It seemed that he was just expected to get on with it, Don reflected. Was almost dying the norm here. He had better get used to days like today if it was. Judy might have to get used to them as well. He looked over at his wife's peacefully sleeping face and could not help moving over to give her a warm kiss on the cheek. "Welcome to the Pegasus Galaxy", he muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

Day 2- Just another day at the office

John Sheppard actually had an office, which was mostly unused because he preferred to talk to people in other more casual environments. This time though, he decided he needed the formality to talk to their latest recruit. Don West was in his opinion, the type of officer who was not suited to his casual style of command, he needed to follow military discipline or he'd become difficult. So he sat in the uncomfortable chair and waited until Major West arrived.

The Major was 20 minutes early and had obviously taken care with his uniform. Though he had missed one little detail, a wedding ring still adorned his finger. Rings were not strickly part of the uniform, but John decided he was not going to enforce that rule. If the Major chose to wear his wedding ring, then that was fine.

"Good Afternoon Major West", Sheppard greeted. "Good afternoon sir", responded Major West. John's first impression was that the Major made eye contact but the more he studied the man the more he realized that he just gave the impression of looking at him. He was actually looking at the wall directly over his shoulder. The Major also seemed uneasy. Now there were many reasons for that, he could be thinking about his encounter with Ronon, or worrying that he was about to get told off for destroying a jumper ,then again it could simply be him he was uncomfortable with.

John had studied the Major's record and found that generally he did have a good working relationship with subordinates. It was his commanding officers that found him difficult and often abrasive. So perhaps he was just worried he was going to say the wrong thing.

"Sit down Major", Sheppard deciding that getting him to relax might help.

The Major sat though he still looked tense. "I have a few follow up reports for you Major ,from yesterday. "Dr McKay is studying the remains of the alien bug that infected Jumper 13. He seems very excited about what's left of the creature, though is disappointed that the holes you shot in the thing prevent an indepth analysis. "If he gives you any attitude, just ignore him. I really hate alien bugs of all types, so you did the galaxy a favour", John told him. "As for jumper 13, they may be able to repair the damage caused by both the creature and your weapon". Tell me Major why did you chose to shoot holes in the console, rather than just pull all the parts out".

Don had been feeling apprehensive about this meeting. Sometimes no matter how he tried, he always seemed to annoy those he served under. Sheppard had the power to make his time in Atlantis very difficult. He did not sound angry now though with a fair dose of curiosity in his voice, so Don decided it was safe to tell him the truth, "the jumper pissed me off sir." Was it his imagination of did the Colonel actually smile at that comment.

"Well it was your call to make and it was absolutely the right one", Sheppard reasurred him. Still the Major looked past him at the wall. What would it take for him to actually look him in the eyes. He made no comment though, just keeping his voice tone even, "Major Lorne told you that I was dealing with an offworld emergency yesterday", Sheppard confirmed. 'Yes, Sir', Don replied. He was feeling a little more at ease now. Colonel Sheppard seemed a lot more relaxed that many of his previous CO's.

"It was wraith related Major. It looks like they are planning something very important". Now the Colonel's manner had changed and Don found himself feeling his nerves rise again. "I would like to get you into action as soon as possible". John took a moment to look over at the younger man and notice the nerves, "I realise that you may feel out of your depth Major, that is why I want you to have intensive training before we take you into combat. Ronon may not be trained by our military but he has had years of experience dealing with the wraith. He knows how to survive and those are the sort of techniques I want him to teach you. I did order him not to put you back in the infirmary but just be warned he does hit hard", Sheppard thought he should be honest, sugar coating things would achieve nothing. "After you have finished with Ronon McKay would like to work with you". "Just to advise you that he is better with equipment than people." So thats your schedule for today".

He was going to be busy. Don did not really expect that Ronon would give him any sort of break. All he saw was a hot shot young Major who was just a test pilot before he came to this galaxy. "I thought Ronon would be the type to hit hard Sir", Don told Sheppard."McKay will try my patience I guess". He did not say anything else . Of course he had this big knot of anxiety resting in the pit of his stomach right now. But that would not change anything. He either had to choose to fight or run away. If he did run they would come after him and he'd probably end up in a cell. Not a great thought. He had already chosen this battle but it still terrified him. Just shooting the enemy was something he could understand and do well. But he was here to use another form of combat, his mutant ATA gene. He could read the minds of the wraith and if necessary control them as well. When he locked his mind with theirs he could feel the pain of their victims. That was not something that was easy to get used to feeling. He could not look John Sheppard in the eye and let him see his weakness, the wall did not care what he was hiding.

"Ronon uses rooms just a few corridors away. You can look at the map for directions", Sheppard told him calmly. John suspected the Major was nervous but he was not comfortable enough with him to admit to that. He hoped that would change in time. "I will be given a report on how it went and we can work forward from that Major", Sheppard concluded. "Yes sir. I won't need the map, I already have the layout of the base committed to memory", Don told him. He had just studied the map once and memorized everything. That was something he was good at. As for the rest, well he could not run or hide so better just submit to his fate.

"Dismissed Major", Sheppard stated. "Yes sir", Don replied. He already knew that saluting was not necessary on the base so he had not offered his CO one. His exit though was conducted in the proper miltary standard that he remembered. Running was defintely not an acceptable way of leaving his CO's office.

"Well that went okay", John Sheppard told himself. He had not had any problems with Major West yet. "He might not at first but it will come", the ominous words of one of Wests former CO's stuck in his head. Was the Major going to prove to be a problem. Sheppard really was not sure.

"Hey Ronon, Major West, is on his way to you". Remember don't injure him too much",John told his friend through the comm lines. '"You are being soft on him Sheppard", Ronon grunted, "I give him six months if that". He's not a soldier". "Then you help make him one", Sheppard told him. 'He is going to help fight the wraith and that is something you have in common". "Yeah", Ronon replied. He broke off the communication after that one word. Ronon was not very communicative at times. He was not here for that reason though. Sheppard hoped he would not accidently hurt the Major. Rodney hoped that the Major was still functioning enough after his encounter to be of use for his tests. Sheppard sighed, the Major's first day on duty had not ended well and this one was shaping up to go the same way.

In the training room Ronon moved away from the communication console and circled one of the bases young Lieutenant's with two wicked looking knives in his hands. Their blades shone in the lighting of the room. The young man in front of him just had one knife and held it in a way that told Ronon he had fought like this before. Before the officer could even launch an attack Ronon surged forward and hit him hard with the flat part of his knife. The young officer went down on his knees and Ronon grabbed his knife hand and pulled it back behind him wrenching his shoulder and causing a spike of pain to run down the arm. Then he squeezed the hand until the officer grunted in pain and dropped his knife. Ronon held one of his knives to the man's throat. "I would now cut your throat", he said in a cold voice, "and leave you to die". "You are too slow Lieutenant ". Ronon had not released the officers hand. "Do better next time", Ronon stated before he finally released his grip. The young Lt. rubbed his hand and felt his face burn with shame. He thought he was a good fighter and this man had rendered him useless in just seconds. Without looking at the others in the room the young Lieutenant went over to the side and hid his face away.

"Next", Ronon requested, ignoring the behaviour of the young officer. It was better to be embarrassed that dead he thought.

Don arrived in the room a few minutes later and watched as Ronon punched a young officer right in the face. His nose was bleeding as he fell to the floor. He then held a knife to his throat ,close enough so that that blade could be felt digging into the skin. "You are dead too", Ronon proclaimed. "None of you show much promise. The wraith will win this war if you fight like that".

He looked up and saw Don West watching him. "You are next Major", he stated.

Don noted that 4 young officers looked his way. He felt a drip of sweat snake down his face. Ronon beckoned him forward and Don moved from the small waiting room closer to the larger main room. Before he could reach the room, the door came sliding shut, blocking his access to Ronon. While that was a relief Don imagined that was not supposed to happen. He turned to look over at the other officers, they shrugged at him. Seconds later the whole room went dark as the lights turned off as well.

John Sheppard had finshed some paper work and was going to talk to Rodney in his laboratory when he discovered that his office door would not open. When he went to find out the problem all the lights in his office went dark. he almost hit his leg into the edge of the chair. Pulling the small torch from a pocket in his uniform he managed to get to the comm panel, "Control room, what's going on, I am trapped in my office", he asked.

Elizabeth Weir was also in her office and quicky moved out into the main control room. "Is there a problem", she asked. The Lieutenant on duty looked at the reading. "There are sections of the base that have suddenly lost power", he reported. "Do we know the cause", Elizabeth asked worriedly.

"Checking", was all the response she got. "Rodney we could use you up here", Elizabeth activated the communications, knowing exactly who was the best person to figure out problems like these.

Rodney found his door would not open either when he tried to leave. He hurriedly pulled a section of the wall open so he could override the door controls. An arch of current suddenly rose up ,flashing over the panels within and giving him a jolt. "Ouch", he stated as he pulled his fingers back. That was strange there was no power to the door, but there was still activity in the panel. It looked like some sort of defensive mechanism was operating . He would have to think of a way to override that. "It looks like I have the same problem Elizabeth. I also just got jolted when I tried to correct the issue". Rodney glared at the door. " The power loss seemed to be confined to my door only, so it is contained for the moment. It may worsen later if we do not find the cause. I would contact all the affected areas to see whether something has happened to trigger the problem", Rodney advised. He swallowed and added, "I did not touch anything".

Elizabeth contacted John next, "is there anything happening there that could have lead to this issue", she asked. "No", John replied, "same boring stuff here". "Okay thanks Sheppard and don't try to solve the problem yourself Rodney just got zapped. Not lethal but enough to hurt", Elizabeth added. "Acknowledged, Sheppard stated, he was not messing with the technology anyway. He could still help by asking a few questions.`"Where did this issue start".

That they could determine by looking at the time each area suffered the problem. Elizabeth soon found that the first door to close was in the training ground. "Can you scan that area and see if there are any issues", she asked. That scan came back negative, if there was a problem it was not showing up on sensors. So she had to figure out what was happening by other means. Common factors often helped determine causes for problems. She started by looking at the list of personal listed in that area and comparing them to those who had been in the training ground , in Sheppard's office and with McKay. One person had been in two of those locations and was due to visit the third later that afternoon, Major Donald West.

Elizabeth swallowed, 'power outages, that sounded familiar. ""Are these issues like those that happened to jumper 13", she asked. "Actually very similar", control stated nervously."Jumper 13 just had minor power losses in the beginning as well. "Surely that creature could not have migrated into our main systems. McKay said the jumpers environment was ideal for its growth process, but the base was not ", Elizabeth remarked.

"He gave us a program to identify the creature Doctor Weir and I will run it through our systems now", Lieutenant Pascal, who was the controller for the operation room remarked.

Elizabeth held her breath. If by some chance Rodney was wrong and their systems had been infected by this alien bug they had a very serious problem on their hands. "Nothing found within our systems Doctor, so the problem must be a different one", came back a reassuring result 5 minutes later.

"So its not in our systems but what about Major West himself. Is it possible he was infected somehow ", she asked. Since Dr Beckett was the one who could answer that question, she contacted him. He reassured her, 'no Elizabeth, that alien creature could not use a human host. "Perhaps there is some other sort of anomaly."

"If there is it does not show on our sensors", Elizabeth told him. She contacted Ronon next. "Is there anything there that could have caused this problem", she asked. Ronan had to use a small torch to find the communications console as the room was completely dark. The air was also oppressive which might indicate that it was not cycling properly. There was nothing obvious wrong though. "No problem here Dr Weir", he confirmed.

At least communications still worked Elizabeth reflected..

The only area left that might have an issue was the smaller room where several officers awaited their turn at training with Ronon. "Major West are there any issues there that could be causing power problems", Elizabeth asked.

Don looked around the room with his own torch but could not see any issue, "no ma'am", he replied. "Hmm then we have an unspecified problem that is causing power to suddenly cut out", Elizabeth stated. "Isn't that what happened to jumper 13", Don asked. "Yes but we have already conducted scans and can find no trace of the same creature that infected the jumper. There has to be another cause", Elizabeth remarked.

It was getting warm in the small waiting room as the 5 officers wandered around shining their torches over everything.

Elizabeth had everything re checked and scanned without finding the cause. 'If this goes on it could be serious, none of the occupants have access to food or water", Lt. Pascal remarked.

That made her feel a little nervous, "could it be some type of attack', she asked. "Hmm, well it is only affecting certain areas, though Colonel Sheppard is one of those who is trapped ,as is Dr Mckay, both are heads of their departments. I guess it could be some type of passive attack. Something more serious may follow. "We could send some engineers to cut through the doors. It will take time, but it will get them out", Pascal stated."Of course it won't fix the problem, but it will give us time to search for the issue without worrying about the occupants of the rooms affected".

"Yes that is a good idea, Elizabeth contacted the engineering department and told them the problem. "There are similarities to what happened with Jumper 13, the chief engineer told her. "I know but we have already scanned for the alien insect that infected that jumper and found nothing. We would like your team to cut through the doors, starting with Colonel Sheppard, unless you have another idea", Elizabeth added. "Not an idea really but a problem that also has to do with power. I know you said that what happened to jumper 13 is not related but I have this mystery and was going to contact Dr McKay", the engineer told Weir.

Elizabeth had learn to follow up on things, even when they seemed unrelated. "What was your problem, she asked. "Well Ma'am, the overload on jumper 13 should have been irreversible. McKay stated that large burst of power was what the alien creature needed to complete its metamorphosis. So why did the jumper suddenly just lose power".

Now that was an interesting question because it could relate to what was happening now. Did the jumper have a second issue that they had not identified, that was not affecting them. Elizabeth needed to talk to the only man that could answer that question, Major Donald West. She connected Rodney and John into the line so they could here what the Major had to say.

"We are looking into this sudden loss of power. It is similar to what happened to your jumper just before it was about to explode. Did anything unusual happen at that time", Elizabeth asked. Don frowned, "no, nothing Doctor Weir. I did expect the engines to explode so it was a relief when they just cut out". I bet thought Rodney. "So you did not do anything other than shooting holes in the jumper", he asked. "Well I swore at it ", Don stated.

That was of course understandable as well and was not something that they would even factor into what was happening. But John Sheppard knew this was not the first time Don West had sworn at a jumper and had something happen. "Can you tell me precisely what you did say, he asked. Don thought that was a strange question but forged ahead with, "I said it was the worst piece of junk I had ever flown and that it should just stop the overload and prove me wrong". A few seconds later the engines switched off".

Rodney McKay tapped his fingers on his desk. "that is quite a coincidence", he remarked. He was of course a scientist and did not really believe things just happened like that. There was always a reason.

"The very first time you flew a jumper you told it to fly and it did", Sheppard remarked, "now we have one that you ask not to overload and that happened as well." Has this got anything to do with his mutant ATA gene".

Mckay had already been thinking along those lines. "We know his ATA is different in some aspects, so why not others as well". He thought some more. He was in danger the first time", so that could be the trigger. Of course his abilities with the wraith also have a defensive element." Yet he is not in danger now". There was one good theory just shot to bits.

"Maybe he thinks he is", Sheppard told them. Ronan, myself and Rodney all have a role in placing him in danger"."Although that has happened before the effect could be cumulative ".Yes but he is trapped as well", Elizabeth stated. "You mean he is safe don't you. That is what sealing those doors did, it prevented myself ,Ronon or you Sheppard from putting him in danger again. So if this theory is right he should be able to open the doors", McKay stated. He felt excited, Major West had some sort of link to ancient technology that meant he could control it as well.

Sheppard contacted Major West again, "tell the door in front of you to open Major", he requested. Don almost laughed, surely it was not that simple, "open please", he asked the door. It stubbornly stayed shut. "Well that does not work", he told Sheppard.

"Did you really want it to open Major," Rodney challenged," think about it in your mind, think peaceful thoughts of being safe and warm, then ask again". Don thought of a beautiful deserted beach then requested again, "open please". The door in front of him opened. He stood there looking at it while the other officers all filed out. Don cast a look over his shoulder at the door to Ronon's training ground, it was still closed. "Can you come to my office please", Colonel Sheppard requested.

Don made his way to the Colonels office, his nerves were rising. It was obvious that somehow he had caused these problems. Now Sheppard was going to chew him out. He found another firmly closed door in his path. Picturing the beach in his head again he requested for the door to open. It was a lot harder this time as he was nervous about Sheppard's reaction. Finally after 20 minutes of thinking peaceful thoughts the door opened. Colonel Sheppard got up from his desk to come out to him.

Now the floor looked very nice thought Don as he studied it carefully, again avoiding eye contact with Sheppard. What could be worse that actually locking his CO and others in a room. "Don", the use of his first name out of Sheppard's mouth was shocking. He found himself raising his eyes from the floor to the Colonel's face. "Your ATA gene is trying to keep you safe", Sheppard told him."You would have died in that jumper explosion had the Ancient technology not detected your danger and powered down the jumper". Today your gene also thought you were in danger and acted accordingly".

"I am sorry sir, I did not lock you and the others in on purpose", Don told him. "Of course you didn't Major", Sheppard stated. "This is just what happens when you try to cut corners and throw someone in the deep end without a life preserver." The ancient technology in the base is warning us that is not going to work".We will have to try a different approach". Sheppard actually grinned at him, "you know that Ronon was going to test your defensive techniques, well you have just shown him your best move. He is trapped in his room and can't do a thing to you".

Don had been expecting to get into trouble and found it difficult to comprehend why Sheppard was not yelling at him. It was because Sheppard had realised that his approach had been wrong in the beginning. If he had gone for a casual meeting place this morning instead of his office this may not have happened. Donald West did not need a strict commanding officer, he needed a mentor, guide and perhaps even friend. He had to get the perceived threat level down a bit and make the Major feel more comfortable first."Major I can help you", Sheppard stated. "So I am going to cancel the training with Ronon. You can start with me first".

"You are going to have to see McKay though and learn how to control that gene. This newest ability has some possibilities. For now though I think you need lots of safe thoughts to let both Rodney and Ronon out of their rooms". Don grimaced, he knew that might be a little more difficult, he was the least comfortable with those particular members of the team. He was going to get them out, that he vowed. Then he would just live by "everyday a new beginning" and hope things got a little easier.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 War of the roses part one

John Sheppard had decided there was only one safe way to involve Major Donald West in some training, take him off world to a nice safe, wraith and alien tech free planet.

He had chosen PA665 or planet Boring as he had dubbed the world. It was a pretty little world, yet had no life apart from plants and birds. There was no stargate, so the trip from Atlantis would normally take 3 days. Elizabeth had asked him if he would be willing to take a group of botanists back to the world to collect more plant samples. The botanists had been complaining that they had to wait a long time to be allocated a jumper and a pilot to take them anywhere off world. With the wraith stepping up their campaigns, most of the pilots with the ATA gene had to fly the craft for military missions.

Being stuck for 3 days in a jumper with his team and botanists was not very appealing. So Sheppard had come up with the perfect solution, he was going to take the Jupiter 2.

It would give him the perfect opportunity to test its newly installed weapons. The botanists would also would be happy as they could make use of the laboratories on board the Jupiter to analyse and process plant samples.

He told Donald West his plan outside on the balcony. "I am going to take Ronon and Teyla, as well. You can chose two Lieutenants for your team. Then we will pit the teams against each other, to see who can capture the other team first'.

Don West's expression did not change, he did not look worried but if he was thinking about the encounter too much then probably they were going to be trapped on the balcony for awhile. "Report to the pier in two hours with your team Major". "That is all, dismissed", Sheppard told him. "Yes Sir," Don replied. He was not that concerned about the proposed training session off world. It was just like being back in class again, right at the beginning of his training. He doubted he had much chance of beating Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon. Still he was going to try.

First though he had to recruit two other team members. He had only been here officially for three days, but it was long enough to overhear some chatter. It seemed pilots had a 'pecking order" , regarding those who had served with Sheppard or Lorne on missions as more important than others. If you were asked to transport scientists or other non military personal, then you were just a 'taxi' driver. He had already been told the names of several Lieutenant's who would be more than willing to join his team. He was after all regarded as 'senior' staff and officially the third highest ranking military officer on Atlantis. So he had plenty of potential names on his list. But he had never been one to chose the 'popular' person and this time was not going to be the exception.

Don strolled casually into the mess hall and noted that the chatter all died down. Several young male Lieutenants eyed him as he entered. "Come and join us Sir," one of the bolder ones offered. Don ignored them for a moment instead turning his gaze on Lt. Kimberly Jarvis who was busy concentrating on her food. She was one of those 'taxi' driver sorts that the rumour mill suggested would not last much longer on Atlantis. "Lieutenant I was wonder whether you would help me", Don asked her. Kimberly immediately raised her eyes from her lunch. She had been having a horrible day so far thanks to the 'boys club'. A group of young male pilots had given her nothing but a hard time since she had arrived on Atlantis. She had almost decided to ask for a transfer back to Earth as soon as possible.

Now as she raised her eyes to meet those of Major Donald West, she wondered what he was going to say to her. She could tell the others were listening. He could have chosen other locations to have a talk and that made her wonder if he was aware of the gossip. So far nobody had really done anything to rein in the attitude of the more cocky pilots. She held her breath.

"I need 2 officers to join my team for an off world training mission", Don told Kimberly. "We will be going up against Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla, so we will have to be able to improvise some clever moves. You are one of those I have chosen Lieutenant, meet me on the Pier in 2 hours ready to go. I will leave the choice of the other member of the team to you, chose well Lieutenant", Don advised her. Kimberly was trying hard to fight off a smile as she saw the members of the 'boys club' stare in disbelief at her.

"Why the pier sir", she asked. "Because we are taking the Jupiter 2 Lieutenant ",Don told her. He then nodded to the other young officers and turned and left. He knew he had just given Lt. Jarvis a whole lot of power.

Kimberly decided she liked Major West because he seemed to be the type that did not go along expected lines. He would give her a break but he would also expect that she tried her best. "So Kimberly what do we have to do to get on that team with you", one of the 'boys club asked her. She thought of all the not so gentle teasing they had given her. "You can't do anything", she told him frankly. "Major West deserves someone that gives all their attention to the mission and forgets about petty fights with other officers, who are on the same side, just to make themselves look good. "That is all any of you have done'. Hence I will look for that second team member elsewhere. Who knows Major West just might be wanting to make a permanent team, so that requires a lot of careful thought as to who will work best together." She turned around and walked away from them. Finally she had told them exactly what she thought of them all.

2 hours later she reported to the Pier with Lieutenant Gill Filmore an older man who had served with Major Lorne, but was definitely not a member of the 'boys, pat yourself on the back and end up a self important prat club".

Don looked over at the 4 botanists that were part of this expedition and found himself smiling. The one part of this that was difficult was leaving Judy for a couple of days. Since she was standing there as part of the botany team, this mission had gotten even better.

He took her hand, "darling, i did not expect to see you", he told her. Judy had not expected the Don would be part of the expedition either. Her inclusion on the team was because they were using the Jupiter and she was familiar with the equipment on board. She saw Colonel Sheppard frown at her. Since he had no control over who was assigned to non military teams he had no idea Don's wife would be joining them. He hoped that would not cause the Major to become too distracted.

Kimberly Jarvis stared as well. Of course she had looked at his hand and seen the ring on his finger. She had looked because she had wondered if he was available. His wife was lovely and the two were obviously very much in love. Inwardly she sighed.

"Let's get underway", Colonel Sheppard suggested. "You will like what they have done to the Jupiter two Major", he added.

Don saw what he meant immediately, the whole layout of the ship had been changed. Before it accommodated a family, now it was a military craft, but those small touches were there to make it still seem homely. He noted that the dividers had been taken out of the sleeping area walls so that bunk accommodation could be added.

They had not altered his room though, being the chief pilot still had its advantages ,like your own cosy space with a bed big enough for two. Then he remembered that he was not the chief pilot on this mission. Sheppard smiled slightly, 'the room is your Major', he confirmed.

Roughly 30 minutes later, after pre flight checks had been completed, the Jupiter 2 lifted off. While the botanists got acquainted with the many facilities on the ship. John and Don, sat sit by side in the pilot and co pilot seats.

"So Sir, how many times have you been to this world", Don asked. "I have only been once Major, but other teams have explored the world 4 times now. It is a botanists dream and we have included many medicines made from plants on the world in the Atlantis medical arsenal. Of course the world has been thoroughly screened, there is nothing dangerous there. " John cast his eyes over the Major. He kept his eyes forward looking out at the darks skies again avoiding his gaze. He was trying hard to get the Major to chill out a little around him, but nothing seemed to be working. Surely he had heard that he was not a by the book officer and therefore become more relaxed. Maybe that would still happen, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"The journey will be faster on board this ship, so you have 2 days to work out your strategy with your team Major", Sheppard told the Major formally. Don acknowledged that with the crisp ,Yes sir, that seemed to be so formal.

Don was aware that Sheppard was trying to figure him out and was not having much luck. He did not really know why he felt so uncomfortable around the Colonel and hoped he could at least learn to be a little less uptight when spoken to by his CO`.

Don left him to pilot the ship a little while later and went into another part of the Jupiter to huddle together with the two Lieutenants to talk strategy.

It took them the entire two days of travel to come up with a plan. He hoped it would at least give them a fighting chance against Colonel Sheppard but he would have to wait and see. For now he had to concentrate on working through the landing preparations.

He touched the ship down gently on the surface of the planet not long after. Through the central view screen he got his first view of planet Boring. It was covered with various shades of green from dark almost black to a fluro colour that was so bright he could not look at it for too long.

Amidst that green was splashes of colour as several different flowers looked toward the light. One spectacular flower caught his eye. "I have not seen that one before, Dr Rudy Keen head botanist, proclaimed as his eyes were drawn to the flower. It was in many ways like an Earth rose, yet no flower on Earth could ever be that big, as large as a human head. Its colour was a vibrant purple, with darker orange streaks down the petals. You could not help look at it and be amazed.

"It is probable that it only flowers once a year, it would take the a lot of energy from the plant to produce a flower that large. We must have missed it flowering all the other times we have visited. As a precaution we will test the plant and flower, so until you are given clearance do not go near the thing", Dr Keen advised.

Judy found the flower strangely appealing struggling to pull her gaze from it and back to their team leader. Maybe it had hypnotic effects , she would ask Dr Keen about that later. For now they had a lot of equipment to set up. Thankfully Colonel Sheppard and the others were all helping out.

Once everything was unloaded they all had a break and shared their first meal together on the planet surface. It was a relaxed affair with everyone telling stories and sharing the odd joke. Soon though it was over and it was down to business.

"Well Major are you ready", John Sheppard asked with a smile. "Sure", Don replied easily. "Very well then we will give you and your team a 60 minute start before we head out after you". Good Luck Major, Lieutenants", Colonel Sheppard told them. He was actually looking forward to this. Ronan and he had a bet on how long it would take them to capture the other team. Teyla had just rolled her eyes at their bet ,then proceeded to make one of her own. She was more generous toward the other team, though naturally she still thought they could capture all of Major West's team before he even caught one of theirs.

Don , Gill and Kimber headed out through the greenery. Kimber was taking a good look around her. There were a lot of good strategic hiding places. "At least no big scary animals are going to jump out at us", she told them. 'Yeah but don't you think that is odd", Gill replied. "There are plenty of food sources for herbivores at least. I would have expected to see some sort of ground based animal". "Well maybe they just did not develop on this planet. There are places on Earth like that. Then of course people come and bring in predators that hunt the birds", Kimber told him. Gill listened for the bird song.

Around them everything was silent, still. It was an almost eerie quiet that seemed unnatural. Yet this world was totally safe according to the reports. But it made him wonder why the birds did not sing. Surely they were not that much of a threat.

"Let's get this plan underway", Don stated as he pulled his own mind away from thinking too much about the silence. John Sheppard and his team would use any distractions against them. They quickly moved their pace up to almost a run as they made for the point Don had selected. His ability to memorise a map would be an advantage, as he knew already the strengths and weaknesses of the landscape around them. He was going to use those against Sheppard.

Judy watched John Sheppard , Teyla and Ronon out of the corner of her eye as she worked. They seemed relaxed and had an easy going relationship with each other. She envied them that. So far she had not made one single friend on Atlantis. He work colleagues were helpful and so far supportive but none of them had made any overtures of friendship. On Earth she'd had many friends and had an active social life.

Don seemed to have similar issues, though at least he had one friend in Evan Lorne. He seemed though not entirely comfortable around Sheppard and the others. She knew that one of the reasons he had volunteered for the Jupiter 2 project was to have a break from the constant pressure his former CO placed upon him. Sheppard too had an agenda and that was probably why Don never seemed to relax around him. Judy felt momentarily guilty about thinking about her husband instead of concentrating on work. She cast a look over at Doctor Keen who was still focused on collecting samples from the giant rose. He had already taken petal, leaf and stalk scrapings and now was digging underground to find the root system. He was wearing protective clothing as a precaution. Once this particular plant was given clearance they would all be able to work near it without the suits.

"Lets go after them now", Judy heard John Sheppard tell the others. She silently wished her husband good luck and glared at the back of Ronon's head for a few minutes. She knew he wanted to be the one to capture her husband, it was obvious he thought that Don should not be part of his team.

She moved over to a smaller plant noting that the leaves at the top of the plant were dying. The rest of it seemed healthy enough and she began to collect lower leaves . This was one of the plants that they were using to make a special medicine back at Atlantis base.

Soon the light began to fade and Judy noticed a glow starting to come over the plants around her. "It is amazing isn't it", Dorian Michaels suggested. "This whole area glows in the dark". It would make a marvellous site for a party, no need for strobe lights or anything".

Judy agreed that it was amazing. Her stomach rumbled notifying her that it was time for dinner. Looking over at Doctor Keen she noted he still seemed absorbed by the rose. She kept working for another 20 minutes then looked over at him again. Curiously he had not even moved an inch. The way he was standing also seemed to be rather odd. Judy knew none of them should get too close to the area before the analysis of the plant was complete, yet something seemed a little off. "Doctor Keen, are you alright", Judy asked through her radio. She did not get a reply. "Dorian, Hari, there is something wrong", she told her two colleagues. "What is it Judy," Dorian wanted to know. Judy could not answer that. She looked down at her feet and found a small rock. Aiming for Doctor Keen's arm she threw it over at him. If he was just engrossed in work he was not going to tell her off . The rock hit solidly and Judy waited for a reaction. She got one but it was not what she expected, Doctor Keen slowly toppled over. Judy felt a screech escape from her lips as she saw his suit had been pierced by several roots. They appeared to be moving, twitching and curling as they wound around the botanists legs. Judy could not tell if the Doctor Keen was still alive or not. 'There is a problem with that rose like plant it has attached itself to doctor Keen. It could be some type of defensive mechanism", she told the others. "Can you get to a weapon and shoot at it", Dorian asked her.

Judy was the closest to the Jupiter and took a few stepped toward the ship. She stopped when the huge rose flower began to move. Its head turned toward her and as she watched the petals expanded, becoming fuller. Some instinct made Judy duck quickly , lowering herself down. Several darts came flying out of the flower and flew over to where her head had been seconds before. They hit the ground and she saw the plant they landed upon shivers and die instantly. That made her stay down not daring to move another inch. She knew that the only thing she could do now was to contact her husband and let him know she was in danger.

Don was crouched down in a small area of swamp land trying to stay out of sight and wait for one of Sheppard's team to come by. He had of course left very obvious tracks leading in this direction. He would know instantly if someone came in range as the ground was not solid. It just looked like it was. This was the perfect place to catch one of the other team. He knew it was likely that Ronon was going to be the one who came after him. The larger man would make a very loud noise when his feet his the water of the swamp land.

All was quiet until a familiar voice shattered the moment. "Don", he heard a distressed Judy's voice coming out of his radio. It was a tone he had heard before, it spoke of fear. Yet what could have caused it on this supposedly peaceful planet. 'Judy, what wrong", he asked. "Don, this rose like plant has wound itself around Dr Keen , piercing his suit with one of its roots". She looked over noting that the plant had wound itself even tighter. Several roots were now piercing the helmet of the suit and very probably the Doctors body as well. "I cannot help him as that rose like flower shot darts at me when I tried to get the weapons from the ship. They could be poisonous as a plant they hit has died .You will have to abandon your own mission and come and help us", Judy told him.

This planet had suddenly taken on a more sinister turn. Don raised himself up out of his crouched position behind one of the swamps mangrove like plants. As he did so he saw a large green swaddled shape came toward him, a knife swaying in its hand. The size of the figure meant it could only be one man."Stop, Ronon, there's been an emergency back at the camp", Don stated. Ronan kept coming obviously thinking Don was just making up a story. He was seconds away from entering the watery swamp land when a green plant shoot erupted out of the ground in front of him ,grew in seconds with a giant rose unfurling itself and strangely turning to face Ronon. "Stop now", Don shouted loudly

His voice was firm enough to make Ronon freeze. It was also loud enough to make the rose flower rapidly turn his way. Don launched himself into the water as darts flew toward him. They landed in the water and Don watched as the water sizzled and boiled around them. Judy's guess had been correct, the plant had some sort of venom and it could prove lethal. Now he knew why there were no land bound creatures on this world, the rose had killed them all. "Stay still, he told Ronon. This seemed to work as the flower did not attack.

Several hundred metres away John Sheppard and Teyla were creeping through the undergrowth, "Sheppard we have a problem", Ronon's voice sounded tense. "What is it Chewie ", Sheppard asked. "That rose is hostile", Ronon told him. "The Major and I are trapped in a swamp just north of your location". It shoots poisonous darts, so approach carefully".

John Sheppard smiled to himself, now this was a very clever tactic from Major West. He wondered how he had gotten Ronon to tell him this. Once he moved closer to the man he and Teyla were going to get captured. Well he was not going to fall for this trick. He gestured for Teyla to move in from the side , while he took the central approach straight to the swamp. 'Oh and Colonel if you think this is a trick you are wrong", came the voice of Major Donald West, "be on your guard".

Sheppard hesitated for a second, this sounded genuine. It was that hesitation that saved his life as a plant shot out of the ground ahead of him. The flower turned in circles as if trying to locate him. Several roots pushed out of the ground as well, twisting like a snake. Despite his intention to remain still his foot snapped twigs underneath. When darts shot out of the flower and he had to throw himself down into the ground, Sheppard knew there was only one response to this situation. He fired upon the rose and its roots, spreading bits of them all over the ground around him.

"Just fire upon them Major", he then told West. Sheppard started moving again. He had only gone about one hundred metres when he found himself flying upward off his feet as larger roots pushed him off balance. Those roots shot upward out of the ground and grew rapidly above him. Then they arched downward toward him and John was shocked to see many tiny eyes on the tip of the root. "Shit", he swore and he rolled rapidly sideways. Teyla started firing at that point and the roots stopped their movements.

Struggling upward Sheppard breathed a sigh of relief. That changed to a gasp when a whole circle of ground began to heave and bend. It was like a mini Earthquake that threw him downward again. When he looked up a whole circle of roses were around him, all of them facing his way. He looked over to Teyla hoping she could help him. She was also surrounded.

Sheppard knew firing at the plant had not been a good idea. He was not going to repeat that decision because he might end up being hit by darts before he could take out all of the roses. So far the flower was not doing anything. When he saw a large section of ground erupt and a massive root, come twisting upward, he remembered that life in a plant came from the roots. They were also its source of nutrients. This root had larger eyes on its points and his fear began to rise when he saw small mouths as well. Quite possibly he was going to be its next meal...

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Chapter 4

War of the roses chapter 2

Ronon's hand was inching down his side toward his long knife. At the edge of the swamp the rose flower had expanded its petals but had not fired again. It was still capable of offering up another deadly volley as new darts had replaced those already fired. Perhaps the plant had a never ending supply which was definitely a cause for concern. Don lay still in the water of the swamp just lifting his head slowly and carefully to watch the flower ready to offer another warning. He did not try for his gun as Ronon was standing behind the flower. He could see Ronon's hand moving in a slow barely noticeable way that just might not be detected by the rose.

"Do not use your weapons on the plant, it just multiplies ", Teyla whispered through the comm. She dared not make too much sound as she could clearly see the darts waiting to be fired at her in the roses around her. Her guess was that these roses had the same root system that was currently out of the ground and towering over John Sheppard. If she acted in an aggressive way she may end up being targeted herself.

Ronon froze in the act of lifting out his knife. He looked over at Donald West noting the other man had not moved from his position in the water .Don could see Ronan appraising him and stated, "the rose cannot see us Ronon, but it did react to movement, so it is best just to keep still and hope it gives up". 'We cannot keep still forever", Ronon replied in his best quiet voice. That was true Don thought, muscle fatique would eventually set in cramping up their bodies and causing pain. He could already feel the chill of the water on his skin. "Teyla whats happening there", Don requested. "A giant root has erupted from the ground, it has about 20 eyes on its tip and several mouths as well. Currently it is hovering over Colonel Sheppard. It has not made a hostile move yet though", Teyla added.

"We are not far from your position Colonel", Lieutenant Jarvis stated. She and Gill had been creeping up on Teyla and Sheppard hoping to lure them into the traps they had laid down. Now their priority was to free their commanding officer. As yet they had not encountered any of the Roses. Kimberly guessed it was because their movements had been too slow to cause major ground tremors, hence the roses were unaware of them. They continued their progress forward until they could see Teyla and the Colonel.

John Sheppard found his eyes drawn to the hypnotic swaying of the root. It was like a snake that mesmerized its victims before attacking. At least staring at the root enabled him to be able to study it effectively. He noticed that the small eyes were rapidly blinking as if trying to adjust. Of course it was used to the darkness of the ground, yet it was also dark out here. But not totally as the phosphoresent plants gave the area some light. John quickly rolled to his left, moving under the cover of a small shrub. The root tip came down, the eyes blinking over the ground he had just vacated. He lay under the bush and held his breath, willing his heart not to sound as loud to the plant as it did in his ears. When no attack came John breathed a very quiet sigh of relief. He lay within the darkened folds of the bush thinking about his next move. Okay so the root was light sensitive, but all he had was the torch that was part of his uniform. It was bright, but would it be enough to stop an attack. Perhaps not, so what else made light. He swallowed as he thought of the obvious ,fire. It was not something he could use but perhaps the others could. He dared not inform them over his radio because it would make the plant attack him again. Hopefully the two young Lieutenant's were observant.

"Did you see what that plant did", Gill whispered to Kimber, "it hesitated, and is disorientated. It is after all used to being under ground". He quickly tore off his vest and discarded that on the ground, then he ripped his shirt from his back bound the bottom of it with tape to protect his hands then set it on fire with the lighter that nestled in his pocket. "Most things living things are scared of fire", he told Kimberly. She nodded and quickly took off her own shirt, ignoring the fact she was now only clothed in her underwear.

With two flaming torches in their hands they approached the large root. Gill lifted his flaming torch close to the root hovering over the Colonel. The root reared back for a second and John prepared to slide himself out from under the bushes. Without warning though the giant root tip lashed forward and its teeth actually grabbed the flaming shirt out of Gill's hands. It then simply swallowed the flames. As they watched that root grew thicker . "It's light sensitive but loves fire", Kimberly growled as she quickly dropped the torch to the ground. "You two retreat to a safe distance", Teyla called out. Kimberly and Gill slowly began to back away. The root tip twisted around with the eyes clearly focused upon their retreat. John was about to slide from the bushes and make a run for safety when the root tip twisted back toward his hiding place. As he watched a second large root erupted from the ground in front of the two Lieutenant's. "Do not fire remember", Teyla warned, "just stay still and see what happens". Gill and Kimberly stood looking at the small eyes on the tip of the root. Behind them other roots came out of the ground , cutting off any retreat. The two of them stood side by side surrounded by roots. They grew like a forest until they completely closed off any view of the younger officers.

John swallowed waiting for the attack to come and feeling completely helpless. The larger root would be on him before he could make it to the officers location. Teyla was still surrounded by roses and they would fire lethal darts at her if she even twitched. Swaying like a snake the large root came down until it was touching the ground, then it lashed out all around as if searching for his location. It seemed like this root was the 'boss' ,the largest one, in charge of the others. It was angry at him for destroying some of its parts. Perhaps it even sensed somehow that he was in charge. Now it was going to consume him first while the other parts of the plant held the others at bay. Perhaps they would even be held for days, until the plant needed more nutrients. Their only chance now rested in the hands of Ronan and Donald West. After watching what happened when others approached it seemed like they would not have much chance of aiding them. Still there must be another weapon they could use against this plant, everything had its weakness and all they had to do was find it. John held on tightly to his weapon, he would have to fire if that root attacked him. He realised that action may just cause the other parts of the plant to attack. Time was their enemy now. He had no idea how much time the root would devote to the search for him. If it felt hungry then the others would be attacked. Hurry up and think of something, he mentally thought to Ronon and Don.

Judy could feel her body shaking, she was rapidly getting tired of standing still. She had contacted her two remaining colleagues and found that they too had roses holding them at bay. They had been told not to move from their positions. She supposed there should be some solution to this mess and she hoped it was as simple as waiting .

"Darling whats happening there", Don's address was definitely not formal in the least. She was about to reply, 'nothing', when the roots holding Dr Keen suddenly convulsed then started to detach from his body. At the same time the flower facing her suddenly turned black then toppled to the ground. 'The flower is dead and the root system withdrawing from Dr Keen", she told Don. "Could you make it to the ship", he asked . Don trusted Judy's judgment on this. "Yes, the roots are still partly attached to the doctor", Judy stated. 'Then go, now Judy and tell me when you get there", Don told her.

Judy set off across the ground, not running just in case her movements attracted notice. She kept her gaze upon the root system as she went. As she reached the ramp to the Jupiter two the root had finally let the doctor go and his body slumped right under one of the phosphorescent plants. Judy got one hideous look at what was left of the doctor through the holes in his suit. His skin looked like it was a mere husk, pale and with hardly any form. The root seemed to have been like a spider and sucked all the fluids from his body. Racing inside the Jupiter Judy quickly raised the ramp. She was safe. But it was not something she could celebrate as the others were still out there.

"Don I am inside the Jupiter",she informed him. She took another breath, "Doctor Keen is dead Don, that plant has sucked the life out of him." She closed her eyes for a minute trying to wrench her mind from the sight of Doctor Keen's body and onto anything that would help. "I would say that the rose died as it had finished its natural life cycle. Often the flower is the last part of the plant to appear. The roots have been fed, now the plant can reproduce", she stated. That could mean something else may happen, which was not a pleasant thought.

"Any ideas Judy what we can use to combat the threat of the roses" ,Don asked. He appealed to her knowledge of plants to find a solution to this mess. His teeth chattered slowly as he felt the chill of the swamp. "Well when the roots system was fed the flowers died. But we haven't got anything on the Jupiter that could supply enough nutrients to that many plants", Judy tore her mind away from the fact that they were the nutrients the plants needed.

"Do you think they will get tired of keeping the rest of us under guard", Don asked her. Judy thought about that. Most flowers had a limited life cycle. Producing a flower that large would take a lot of energy for the plant. Yet the flowers could still last for days.

"I do not know how long their life cycle will be Don", Judy told him. "Now this part of the root system is fed, it will have more energy . I do not know what will happen if you approach the ship".

So there were a lot of problems and potential problems. Don looked over at the rose near them. It was a lot closer to Ronan than him and could not actively fire upon both of them. "Sheppard, how many roses are over there", he asked his CO very quietly.

Teyla, realising that John may be targeted again if he answered, whispered, "it is now not only us in danger the two Lieutenants are being held inside a root cage. I have an active guard of Roses holding me at bay with darts loaded and ready to fire. The large root is currently trying to find the Colonel's location. It looks like he will be its first victim. We can do nothing to help. The roots are light sensitive but are not afraid of fire".

Don realised that he and Ronan were the only ones that might have a chance as they only had one rose nearby. Why was that, he wondered, there were several at other locations. Don't over think to much Don he told himself , you need to act. "Ronon ,that flower cannot fire at both of us at the same time. What if we try and confuse it by moving together", he suggested. Ronon gave him a scowl but did not say anything sarcastic.

Of course the ex runner knew they had to do something and if Colonel Sheppard had suggested this plan he would have no hesitation. He did not see Donald West as the commanding type. Still his plan did actually have merit. "Are you ready", Don asked him firmly. He was obviously not giving him the opportunity to say no and that made Ronon rethink his previous analysis of the Major.

Nodding at the Major, Ronon started to move quickly away from the rose. At the same time Don launched himself from the water of the swamp. The rose head twisted around, its petals quickly expanding and firing darts after Ronon. "Left now", Don yelled at the taller man. The ex runner swerved and the darts thumped into the ground. Then the flower head swivelled around quickly facing toward Don. But he was already moving as fast as wet clothing would allow. More darts plowed uselessly into the ground. Don weaved an uneven path changing directions many times.

Ronon was calculating distance in his head and was sure he was beyond the reach of the darts. When the ground in front of him erupted and a root plowed upward toward him his instincts took over . In a swift moment he cut through the root with his knife, severing it completely. He kept running confident that he could outpace a mere plant.

More eruptions appeared in front of him and when he swerved others appeared to the side. This plant was putting a lot of effort into stopping him getting away. Ronon changed direction again. He hardly felt the small eruption under foot and if he had looked down he would have seen thin roots roots weaving out of the ground and winding around his feet. Ronon felt himself falling. Bending his body downward he tried to slash at the roots around his feet. His brief moment of taking his eyes off what was in front of him was enough to give the plant an advantage. Two more roots shot upward, twisting around his wrists with a force that had him screaming. He started to fight with all the strength he had.

Don could clearly hear the yelling and rapidly turned. It looked like Ronon was about to be overwhelmed. Without hesitation he went to the runners aid. He could hear his own breath coming out in gasps and was amazed that sound and his panicked running did not attract the attention of some more roots. But maybe the system was just busy trying to subdue the bigger and hence more nutritious prey.

As he went Don reached beneath his jacket to find his own knife, which was more like a tooth pick compared to Ronon's. He hoped it would be effective enough.

Ronon could feel himself slowly losing this battle. The roots were winding themselves around his body and tightening as they went. One large one circled his torso and started to constrict. Already he was feeling a breathlessness sensation that was only going to get worse. That larger root lifted up its tip and he could see the tiny eyes staring at him as if watching his life slowly ebb away.

Then suddenly Major West was there and he was slicing the roots around his torso.

Don was standing right in the midst of the root system and desperately cutting through the massive root that was trying to squeeze the life out of Ronon. Around him other roots were coming out of the ground and he knew they would be targeting him soon. If he fired at them with his weapon he could clear a path. But it might just make the plant react in a more violent way, like squeezing Ronon faster than it was already.

So he kept on cutting through the root while watching the taller mans face. He could see the runners eyes boring into his own and willing him on. Don focused on those eyes and not on the roots that were snaking across the ground. Moments later he felt something touch his leg and knew he was going to get the same treatment as the ex runner. This was probably one of those moments that was futile but you have to make the effort anyway. Don braced himself as roots snaked up his leg.

The plant would probably try to pull him off balance and then attack. He had nearly cut through the root around Ronon's chest and he could see the larger man intensifying his efforts to get loose. "Stop moving", Don snapped at him. "It may just let you go and then try for me". I do expect that you use that large razor blade aggressively to free me".

In that moment Ronon actually admired the Major and stopped his efforts to get free. He watched as the roots snaked up the Major's trouser leg then around his thigh. Surprisingly though they did not constrict, they touched, seemed to rear backward, then rapidly snaked back downward.

"Take my knife", Ronon gestured downward to his hand which was still firmly encased in roots. Those roots had wound around the knife and Don used his own knife to cut them free.

Soon he had the larger knife in his grip and set about cutting the remaining roots. "Why is it not attacking you", Ronon panted out. He could breath a lot easier now that root had gone from his chest. He could still not move much though. Now that was a very interesting question Don thought. When he reached out to slice through the roots tangled around Ronon's wrists, little drops of water fell off his clothing. When they touched the roots they started to shrivel.

Don frowned, surely this plant could not actually be affected by water. That liquid was usually what gave life to plants. He shook his sleeve sending droplets of water spraying over the roots around Ronon's wrist.

Within seconds those roots started to retreat .So perhaps that was what had actually happened to the roses darts when they hit the water of the swamp . He had thought it was the water reacting to the poison. That was also why there had been only one rose near the swamp, the ground was too wet for more to grow. They now had a weapon. For the first time Don felt they had some hope. "We can use water as a weapon against the plants", he stated through his comm system.

Teyla was watching in fear as the roots started to drag small pieces of the bush John Sheppard was hiding in away . It was slowly diminishing his hiding place. This was a very clever plant. She heard Don's suggestion and still felt helpless. "We only have a small amount in our canteens", she told him.

Judy could also hear them and knew that the Jupiter 2 had a lot more water on board. There was a major problem though, she did not have the ATA gene necessary to fly the ship.

Don too was thinking of the water tanks aboard the Jupiter. He was going to need a rather crazy plan. "Judy if I can get the ancient drive to fire up then the ship could be taken to the Colonels location". Judy knew that might be a difficult plan, while the ancient technology did respond to Don being in danger, it was not actually him that was in the most danger. Could her husband actually instruct the ship to help out Colonel Sheppard.

"Teyla the roots are effected by water. I am going to try and get the ship to fly to your location and dump some of its water supplies . Can you give me your coordinates", Don asked.

Teyla wondered if Don could actually do what he suggested. She did not hesitate in giving him the coordinates though, any plan was better than what they had now. There would need to be enough water to cover the ground with Colonel Sheppard, herself and the two Lieutenants. Then they needed to save enough to free the remaining botanists and to fight off any further attacks. That was a lot of water and she hoped they had enough.

Don moved closer to Ronon, "I am going to have to get a little personal "he told the larger man. "Please refrain from trying to hit me". He moved until his body was actually touching parts of Ronon's body and the roots around them. He hoped those roots would react to the water that was still soaking his uniform.

As soon as he made contact with the roots, they drew back almost like they were cringing. Ronon kept still as he did not want to ruin this moment. He was fighting the temptation to hit the major hard for invading his personal space. 'If you have a plan that enables us to move I suggest you do it", Ronon muttered.

"I will have to try and free the Colonel and the others first Ronon. I am going to try and get the ship to fly over their location", Don told him.

Ronon felt his eyebrows rise, "can you actually do that", he asked Don. "I have no idea", came the response," the ancient technology does respond to my ATA gene from afar, but so far it has only aided me and not anyone else." I am going to try it. Just stand still and don't move. The plant knows I am a threat now, but it still may want to try and get you". Don closed his eyes and sent thoughts of danger to the ancient drive on board the Jupiter. Instead of his own location, he gave it the Colonels.

"Don the engines just fired up", Judy told him. So that part of the plan did work. Judy hurried to the navigation console and watched as a map came up all on its own. It was rather creepy to be on a ship that was actually able to almost think independently. Of course Don was kind of communicating with it, but it was still ultimately a machine.

The map pin pointed the Colonels location, and the ship began to lift off and head for the coordinates. Judy hurried from the main deck down one level to where the water tanks were stored. She was going to have to control the water flow herself though to ensure the right amount made it to the ground, too little and the plant would still be capable of an attack, too much and they would have no water left for any future defence against the remaining plants.

There was only one small portion of shrub left over him when John Sheppard heard the Jupiter two overhead. The next minute water came flying down ,like rain, showering over him, Teyla the two Lieutenants. An ear piercing scream filled the air as the plant reacted to the water. The giant roots twisted and turned like they was being burnt. Then they hurriedly retreated under ground.

John looked out of the bushes,over at Teyla and saw that all the roses were blackened and lying still on the ground. The two Lieutenants were also free from their root prison and standing unharmed awaiting new orders. "Your plan worked Major", Sheppard told him. He pulled himself out of the tiny piece of bush and hurried to side of his team. "If we make for the former landing site we may just get intercepted again", Teyla stated. John nodded in agreement. "Major West, can you get the ship to land here", he asked.

When the Jupiter came down and settled a few metres from them he was impressed. John, Teyla and the two lieutenants moved on board where John took over the controls of the ship. He looked at the terrain on the map and realised that he would not be able to land the ship near Ronon or Don, the ground there had to many obstacles. The botanists were luckier as they had a nice piece of flat land nearby. "Major West, can you make for the botanists location. I will bring the ship down near there and retrieve all of you", John told him.

Don blew out a breath, it was a couple of miles to the location and his clothing was rapidly drying. "Lets go back to that swamp first and soak ourselves throughly. Hopefully any roots that try to intercept us will get other ideas", he told Ronon.

They moved back to the swamp and jumped into its cold slimy waters. This made Don, who was already feeling chilled even colder. They had no other choice though so both of them made sure the water leached into every part of their clothing. The wet underwear was honestly the worse sensation. Then looking like some creature from a horror movie both of them set out for the botanists location

Don noticed that Ronon kept pace with him ,not trying to outpace or compete in any way. He looked like he was actually comfortable by his side now and Don knew he had actually learnt the others respect. Ronon was probably not going to tell him that though. They kept their gaze alert for any roses or roots but did not encounter any type of resistance. That made them both nervous. When they reached the botanists location they saw the Jupiter 2 hovering overhead and waiting for them. The two remaining Botanists were totally soaked seconds later and the 12 roses surrounding them immediately died.

Don breathed a large sigh of relief as the ship landed a short distance away. Nothing more had happened and now they could get off this world. Within minutes he and Ronon had reached the ramp leading to safety. Just as they were about to board roots snaked upward out of the ground to wind themselves around the support beams of the ramp. Other roots wove themselves across the doorway restricting entry. "Oh shit", Don exclaimed.

Inside the Jupiter John Sheppard was saying the same thing, multiple red warning lights were flashing as all around them the ground erupted with roots. There were literally thousands of them, snaking their way. When the ground in front of Don simply collapsed inward with a hole that resembled a large crater Ronon and Don had a horrible feeling things were about to get worse.

A root that was ten times more massive than the one that had tried to squeeze Ronon came out of the hole. It had two very large red eyes on its tips. Don's eyes were drawn to the large mouth were rows of tiny needle sharp teeth leered at him. Then the root began to move slowly twisting and weaving in a way that immediately made him just want to stare and not do anything else.

Teyla ,Gill and Kimber had run from the command centre to the ramp and saw that in addition to being across the opening roots were snaking inside. Their progress was slow though and they twitched as if they were feeling pain.

"The plant is trying to board us sir", Kimber breathlessly told John. John looked over at Judy and the other two botanists. "There is only enough water left to fight a small portion of this plant", he told them. Judy sucked in a shaky breath, "I would say this is the plants last effort to get us. It is fighting to survive ,without any other form of major life on this world it will most likely die out. That is what I believe makes it more aggressive. I believe you will need to use extreme force to escape".

John nodded, "all bets are off everyone, you have clearance to use whatever force you deem necessary"." He quickly activate every light inside and outside the Jupiter hoping to give them a better chance.

Don and Ronon did not waste time on the smaller roots they aimed for the large one and started to fire. As brightness erupted around them they saw the roots eyes blinking rapidly. The teeth on the tip were opening wide and Don shot a spray of bullets straight down the creatures mouth. They erupted out of its neck ,severing its head from its body. The rest of the root dropped downward. But before they could celebrate the root simply began to grow another head and this one was even larger.

Ronon noted that some of the smaller roots were shrivelling up. The plant was putting all its energy into producing the new head for the larger root. The two of them kept firing on the larger plant, slamming its new head into the ground and shredding it into tiny pieces.

Inside the Jupiter Teyla, Kimber and Gill had yet another plan, using white hot light from circuits near the door way to stun the eyes on the roots. As the tips twitched the three of them cut a pathway with swift slashing motions that sent pieces of the plant flying. They were not replaced . It looked like Judy West was right, the plant was losing its ability to put up a fight. Soon the doorway was clear again and they marched down the ramp to aid Ronon and Don. John stayed at the flight controls as he knew they may only have a limited time to get away.

Under rapid gunfire from 5 people the roots put a battle to survive replacing roots each time they were shot up. They wondered which of them would tire first, or would they run out of bullets before the plant finally had no more energy. Finally after several minutes of firing, the plant could only muster small roots, that slowly crept their way. "Go now", Don yelled . They all ran up the ramp and hurriedly shut the door behind them. "Lift off Colonel", Teyla told John.

The Jupiter surged upward and they hurried to the main flight deck. As they watched the plant made one last effort to bring them down. Another giant root surged upward travelling toward the ship. John fired the ancient weapons at the root immediately severing its head and dissolving the body into tiny pieces. When no more roots erupted out of the ground they knew the plant had finally given up.

"I think I might put that planet on the no go list", Sheppard stated . "Yeah, no more plant gathering missions to that world", Ronon agreed. He looked over at Don. "I think he doesn't need any more training", he told Sheppard.

"Agreed", John Sheppard stated. Don ,for the first time actually looked him in the eye and smiled, "thanks sir", he acknowledged. John looked at him and noted that his teeth seemed to be chattering. He had been wet a lot longer than any of them. "You okay", he asked.

Don was about to nod in affirmation when he felt this sensation come over him. It was familiar ,unwelcome and definitely a cause for alarm. His skin rose up in goose flesh. He looked up at Sheppard and told him , "the wraith is nearby".

They were still in danger.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Amongst the fire- fighting the wraith with your mind can be very dangerous

The wraith hive loomed over them, dark and intimidating. It made the Jupiter 2 seem like a mere gnat, with just a little bite.

Normally there would be little they could do, they could not outrun the hive, their fire power was insignificant and it was too late to hide. Either blowing themselves up or surrender would be their only options. But they had a weapon the wraith did not know how to deal with, the mind of Major Donald West.

He could feel them, their hunger shining bright and fierce, almost all consuming. Yet he did not collapse because he knew their intent was a hostile one and his mind was shielding him from their thoughts.

"You can protect us Major ", Colonel Sheppard told him, "get them to leave us alone, any way you can. Teyla could help you but she is vulnerable to being controlled, you are not."

So he sent his mind amongst them, sifting through their thoughts of hunger to find out why they had just turned up in this area of space. The wraith had no reason to go to the planet of the roses, there was no life to feed upon. What he found terrified him. The wraith had left a beacon on the rose planet about 1 year. It would only activate when the roses were brought into defensive mode by the presence of something big enough to cause them to attack using their root system. Normally the roses would bring down prey by shooting the poison darts and the roots would then drag the meal under. So the triggering of the root system meant something significant had happened.

Since only a race with ships would be able to go to the planet then it would be likely it was the Lanteans. So the wraith had sent a hive to investigate. It was clever and it actually made him view the wraith in a different way. He thought they were just combative , using their superior strength to subdue others. They had thought this was the way to conquer the Lanteans. Of course they knew awhile ago that they were wrong about that, so had to think of other sneakier ways to capture their prey.

As he looked into their motives he found that were also not just searching for any Lanteans, they wanted him and that was the part that was terrifying. He had brushed the Queen's mind briefly during their search for the Robinson's. Since he had resisted her, it had enraged her and now she wanted a face to face meeting. Her power, it seemed, had been lessened by the fact, he ,a mere man, could repel her, even if it had been for a second.

So she had sent this wraith hive to bring in the Jupiter 2 and anyone found with the ship. He realised that it had been a mistake to use the ship, as it was identified with him. Thus it was, he felt, his responsibility to make sure none of them fell into wraith hands. He was especially worried about Judy and the other two surviving botanists. Sheppard and the others had the tenacity to survive many encounters with the wraith. He was not sure his wife would even survive one. It was not a negative thought that she was weak, because Judy did have an internal fire. It was just realisation that this enemy paralysed Judy with fear so much that she could not act.

Thoughts of capture and torture at their hands made him throw the full force of his thoughts at them as he walked in shadow form upon their hive. ""Why don't you fire that weapon at your own ship", he told one wrath. It seemed pathetically easy to implant this suggestion and the results were satisfying because it faithfully blasted away , causing a fair amount of chaos. It, Don could not allow himself to see these things as beings. He was inside a mind filled with thoughts of draining dry lives of not only everyone in the Pegasus Galaxy but beyond. He could see their sickening vision of the future, a whole fleet of hives above Earth and humans falling beneath their feet.

So he did not stop at just getting the wraith to destroy their ship, he got them to turn on each other as well. "Attack, anyone you see" They are your enemy not us, we are insignificant". It was again easy to enforce this directive. As the wraith shot each other up he celebrated. But that was when he felt it, the fear, who are you, what are you, how can you do this..It pounded through his head as the carnage on the hive grew. He felt everything they did, pain ,suffering and disbelief.

Blood began to snake out of his nose to run down his face. They deserved this, he was sure about that. But as he manipulated their minds he found another thought, 'why'. We cannot help being who we are". We have to feed or die".That actually made him pause.

It was the moment he stopped seeing them as monsters and realised they were not unalike humans. He was also saw himself as being not unlike them, just killing without even trying any other way.

The damage though was already done, wraith lay in the corridors of the hive, overwhelmed by their own fire and passions. Their hive drifted out of control and who knew where it would end up.

He had already won the battle. His mind felt drained ,exhausted from the pain he had shared. It was also now rebelling as he found a shred of remorse at his own actions. Had he even tried to convince them to change, to just go away and never come back, no, he had just attacked. What had changed because of his actions, exactly nothing, the Wraith would still hunt down every living thing. They just had one less hive to achieve their aims.

As he fell down to the floor the blood flow from his nose intensified. He felt Judy's warm hand clasp his own and her voice ,intensified by her fear, say something to him. All he could hear was thumping in his ears . John Sheppard was pressing a cold pack to his face and telling him it was over, they would return to Atlantis. He would end up back in infirmary and when he was recovered they would send him out on another mission. He would slowly decimate both the wraith and his own mind. That made him shiver, which of those two things would die first he wondered. At least for now he could rest, recover and then he would decide if he could continue with living in the Pegasus galaxy.

So he started to relax. Then out of nowhere another hive appeared and he felt a very different mind touch his own. This one screamed a burning anger at him. He could see her, white skin, raven hair, yellow eyes and pointed teeth, she reeked of power. This was the wraith queen and she cursed him for destroying some of her faithful subjects

Her thoughts were very clear within his mind, he had to stop, now. Don's mind was already reeling from everything he had seen and felt. He knew he would have to bring down this hive as well. Because even though they now seemed a lot less like monsters they also wanted to kill every single person on the ship. She showed him them all dying ,slowly ,screaming as years were sucked away.

His exhausted mind could not handle the force of emotion that swept over him. Even Tayla's mind bolstering his own could not shield him from the power of the Queens mind. His ability to fight was diminishing by the second. "I am sorry", he said to the others as suddenly his mind just gave out and everything around him went black.

xxxx

John Sheppard heard Judy West sobbing as he leaned over the Major and felt for his pulse. His heart was still beating. The medical scanner though barely detected any brain activity. It looked like the Major had simply been unable to handle the assault on his mind by the Queen. Effectively he was in a coma and could easily die if not given immediate medical attention in the best facility. That was unfortunately not here on the Jupiter 2.

"The hive is bearing down on us", Kimberly Jarvis reported in this blank type of voice that spoke of being unable to feel any more terror. "Initiate the self destruct on the ship, it is the only way we can stop them getting not only the location of Atlantis, but also Earth when they interrogate us", Sheppard stated. The botanists paled at that, yet also knew which way they preferred to die. Judy clasped Don's hand tighter ,at least at the end they would be together. Her tears still flowed though, to pool at her feet. She saw she was not the only one to weep.

A bright light past over them and suddenly the ship lost all power, the self destruct turned off as well. Around them everything was black. They were not out of control though because the hive had them in its grasp. "It looks like they just took that option away from us", Gill Brody said, 'they are getting smarter". "They want us badly", Sheppard stated softly, he knew that they could not escape now and that it was his responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone on board and of the others in Atlantis.

He looked over at Major West and knew what he was going to say was not going to be pleasant for his wife to hear. "It is possible the wraith can restore the Major". "That may not bode well for us". He knelt before Judy looking into her eyes, softly ,sadly, a compassion within his own. He was being gentle when what he was going to say was very harsh. "The wraith will want to find out how his gift works and if they examine him too closely they may also find out that he can manipulate Ancient technology . They could then use him against us in an attack on Atlantis. He does have the ability to shut down the whole base and get them past our defences. In his state he would not have the ability to resist the force of the queen's mental command. Even if he does somehow recover enough to defend himself, we would be within their grasp and the wraith could use us to force him to do what they want". John slipped his own hand in Judy's free one.

Judy felt the tears falling faster, she had the horrible feeling she knew what he was saying, "are you going to kill him yourself then", she stuttered. John shook his head, "no, but I am going to eliminate any chance of him helping them, and unfortunately us as well ".

"Rodney McKay believed that injecting the Major with the ATA gene would stabilise his condition and make him like the rest of us with the gene. Effectively it will take away his power. The wraith will not be able to use him. We will all fight to resist any attempts to have our minds stripped for knowledge. Our training gives us the fortitude to die before we reveal any knowledge to the enemy". At least he hoped that was the case because he knew that wraith questioning was going to be very unpleasant.

"You are different", John stated. "I believe it is in your best interests to hide upon this ship. When Dr Smith stowed away, he hid in the food storage lockers and they are not visible on scans", Judy told him. "There would only be enough room for three though", she said.

John nodded, "then you are to hide there and if the opportunity presents itself you are to try and take the ship back to Atlantis and report what has happened."

"I do possess the ATA gene, Dorian admitted, "but I do not know how to fly a ship". Judy looked up from her study of her husband. He was not responsive, yet strangely his hand clasped her own. "I can help you there, I know how everything works", she told Dorian". "Good, "John Sheppard stated.

Dorian, Judy and Hari, traded glances, "we will do as you suggest Colonel", Dorian decided, "Good luck to all of you", he concluded with a choke. He knew they may all die.

John retrieved the small injector carrying the ATA gene from the medical kit on board the Jupiter. This ampule was a new addition, meant for if all crew with the ATA gene were incapacitated or dead. Then the others on board, civilian or military could take the chance that they might activate the gene within themselves and get out of danger.

Judy stroked Don's hand with her own, desperately hoping that somehow he could feel her there beside him. She was struggling to believe that he was going to come out of this in one piece. Colonel Sheppard, gave her other cold hand a soft squeeze. Then he shot the gene directly into Don's neck.

"Will it work immediately", Judy asked. John looked at the medical scanner. The Major's brain activity remained at minimal levels. The ATA gene had not brought him consciousness. Perhaps the Major's mind was too damaged. He braced himself as he looked into Judy's eyes.

She interpreted the look and immediately lowered her eyes. She did not want to see defeat . "Do not tell me he will not recover", she snapped out at John Sheppard. She wanted to scream at him, to blame him for what had happened. But she could find it within herself to lay that blame. What they all faced now was terrifying and Sheppard was trying his hardest to protect all of them.

Instead she raised her hand and showed the Colonel that Don's hand was still locked around her own, the fingers curled together tightly. "If he's brain dead then how come he is doing that" she challenged.

Sheppard did not want to say it was just a reflex. He wanted her to feel enough hope that she fought to survive.

"We are going to have to separate you from his grasp", he told Judy gently. That proved more difficult than he anticipated ,having to force Don's hand from his wife. That made him wonder what was happening deep in the recesses of Don's mind. He cast Teyla a glance ,she shook her head. It meant that she could not reach his mind either. The only benefit Don's condition gave him was that perhaps he would not feel what the wraith did to him.

Without further thought Sheppard gently took Judy, Hari and Dorian and secured them in the food storage lockers . Then the rest of them awaited the moment the wraith stormed the ship.

As they stood weapons in hand, they heard the sounds outside the ship that indicated the wraith were coming. Don West just lay on the floor ,with blood from his nose underneath his head. He did not move or react even in the slightest amount when the door to the Jupiter 2 was blasted open.

They fired as wraith upon wraith boarded the ship. The first 10 twitched and fell beneath their feet. Then next twenty just jerked and kept on coming. With more behind them they were soon outgunned.

Sheppard felt the familiar blast of a wraith stunner hit him and fell to the floor. Around him the others fought on in desparation, before they too fell unconscious to the floor.

Out of the mass of wraith soldiers walked one who held his head up and walked with the confident strut of command. He looked at the fallen Lanteans and grunted in satisfaction. Then he went to the side of the one he had seen in the Queen's mind. He was not moving and blood ran down his face. His pallor could indicate lack of life. Yet he could still feel warmth as he touched the man. "Bring them all", the wraith instructed the foot soldiers. "The Queen desires an audience with this one. Let us see if he can be made conscious enough so that she is satisfied by that audience."

He did not after all want to deny his Queen the pleasure of feeding upon this one herself. "Search this vessel", he told 5 of his men.

The rest grabbed the fallen Lanteans and dragged them away. They did not worry if they bumped them into anything as they moved through the hive. Don was left in a cell by himself, "I will send someone to look at this one, to see if we can speed up the healing process", the lead wraith remarked. The others were all deposited in the cell next door .

xxxxxxx

John Sheppard awoke with a splitting head ache. He groaned audibly as he raised himself up to a sitting position on the hard floor. A quick glance around him confirmed his worse fear, they were held captive in a wraith hive. As he tuned in his others senses he heard groans . In the dim lighting it was hard to see ,so he dragged his protesting body upright and went to count heads.

So, they had taken Major West elsewhere, that was not a surprise. He wondered idly how long it would be until they were granted an audience with the queen. If she was inclined to talk rather than just feed upon them.

"By now Atlantis realises we are in trouble", Teyla stated. 'Yes, they would have seen the wraith hive on long range scanners. But all Dr Weir will do is lock our IDC's out of the gate room and have Daedulus stand by in case someone other than us comes toward them in the Jupiter 2", John told them."What about a rescue mission",Kimberly asked. Sheppard shrugged, "Colonel Caldwell will be in charge now, and I believe he is more likely to try and take us out of the picture so we cannot compromise anything than make any rash actions", John told them.

He wondered what brain bending plan they could think up that could possibly get them out of this one and failed.

So he sat on the floor of the cell and waited for something to happen.

it was about 70 minutes later that a troop of wraith came to the door of the cell. They said nothing, just pointed at him with their weapons, then dragged him out of the cell. He did not try to resist in any manner because all it would achieve was a swift kick.

He was taken to the Queen's chamber. She sat on the ugliest throne, one could imagine. At her feet lay Donald West. He was no longer comatose as he moved slightly. John crouched down beside him, "Major, can you hear me", he asked. The Queen hissed loudly causing him to look up at her. "Come and kneel before me", the command was not only verbal, it wrenched into the deepest part of his mind and no matter how much he tried to resist he could not. His legs moved over to her , then he knelt.

She brushed one long nail along his neck and her golden eyes fixed upon his own. "So you are Sheppard", she stated. "Who is this one", she pointed at Don. John Sheppard tried to say nothing , yet the name, "Major Donald West", was dragged out of his mouth.

"So he has the Braxian Gene then, we have not seen that in many years", the Queen rasped. This was admittedly quite an interesting statement because it told John that the wraith knew about the mutant gene . "I have not heard the name Braxian before", he told the queen. She looked at him but did not elaborate. Ones in command do not need to tell him anything of course.

"Come to me Major Donald West", requested the Queen. Sheppard did not think that Don was conscious enough to register what was happening. Yet he moved, dragging himself from the floor to kneel next to him. John cast him a look, his eyes seemed blank, like he was the living dead. He did not acknowledge his presence.

"We have given him just a little treatment, enough for him to be conscious". He can witness first you and then the others being fed upon. Then it will be his turn. We will of course desire all the information you have about Atlantis and Earth", the Queen purred. John could tell she was happy and why not, he and the Major were now at her feet. He could not disobey her. If she asked him to walk through fire he would. Some part of him would be screaming but he'd still obey.

It seemed the point of no return, he could not help himself and Donald West could not by using his ability. You took away any chance of him getting us all out of this, that was not a good plan. That thought played through his mind. Maybe though the Major could still be useful. The Queen's anger was directed mainly at the other man. "He is hardly in any condition for revenge", Sheppard told the Queen. He was hoping to stall for time. The others may just find a way to escape .

"This is all we can do, his mind seems damaged", the Queen stated. "The power of Braxis seems to be absent. Still he is aware enough for what I intend. Perhaps he will scream as he sees you suffer". She smiled at him, her white teeth glinting. "I am in control now Sheppard,and you will be the first who realises how painful that power can be".No one will dare deny me anything again"

She stopped speaking and John braced himself for what would follow, he was determined not to cast one look at the Major who was still kneeling and staring blankly.

The Queen tore his shirt with her sharp nails. She brought her hand down close to her skin, then pulled it back. Maybe she was toying with him, making him wonder when the feeding would begin.

"She smiled again, "this one is brave", she stated, you will let him and the others go now"", the words out of her mouth startled John.

The wraith nearby all looked toward her, puzzled by the sudden change. "Do it now", her voice snapped like fire.

John tried not to smile, somehow Tayla had managed to project her own mind into the Queens. He hoped she could hold on and not be influenced. "But my Queen you have them", the head wraith protested. "Let them go", the Queen repeated ,"now".

The wraith came closer to his Queen. John tried to move but found he was still held in thrall. So perhaps his theory was not correct. As the wraith passed Don West his hand shot out and grabbed the stunner from its holster. He fired rapidly at all the wraith in the room.

Sheppard stared and Don West turned his head to look at him, his eyes were now very alert. So the mind control was coming from West and giving him the gene therapy had not changed anything. Crap, he was a good actor. He had to be controlling other wraith as well.

The Queen stood up and Sheppard raised his weapon ready to fire until she fell. Don put his hand over his own, "We loose everything if she dies. Anger satisfies nothing", he said. "Once we leave she will come after us and the Jupiter 2 cannot hold off this hive", Sheppard stated. "We will have a mighty alliance", the Queen told him. John Sheppard actually gasped. " If we kill her there will be others . This way she works with us and gives us a chance to find a way to coexist in this Galaxy", Don told him. It was maybe not the way the others would want things. He had to make sure Sheppard understood what he thought of waging all out war . "You can use it or not. But if the answer is no to finding peace then I will not help you any longer". He did not add sir to the end of his sentence.

John was not going to challenge a man that held a wraith queen within his power. What he would do about West and what he had set in motion was the question. Maybe this mental directive would not hold once they were away from here.

"Let's go back to the Jupiter and get out of here", West suggested. Now that was an easy one to obey and John Sheppard walked beside Don and the wraith Queen all the way to the Jupiter. "These ones work for me now", The Queen told all of her men.

John Sheppard shivered , he was suddenly afraid of Major Donald West.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Lockdown part one

Rodney McKay muttered to himself, things were not going well. He needed to explain why giving Donald West the ATA gene had not taken away his gift. It should have worked. Every test he had patiently conducted before hand told him so. The test he had just completed was the same. So why hadn't it worked. It was the question the others would want to know. Now came the really disturbing part, at least for him, because he actually did not know the answer. Muttering louder he tapped the button on the console in from of him harder as if accusing it of being the one that defied him. Perhaps it was because he was also researching the name the wraith had given the mutant gene Donald West possessed, the Braxian gene. Of course the ancient data base would tell him a lot about it, because the ancients documented everything. There was so much information within the data base that they would be spending a lifetime trying to sift through all of it. Fortuntely it did have a search engine, so it would be easy to find specific information. However the words, "no information found' were flashing in front of him. That could not be right either. The wraith knew about the gene, so it was not as uncommon as they first thought. "Why aren't you telling me",Rodney growled. There had to be information there was simply no way that something like this would not be documented.

But apart from the scarce facts he already knew there was nothing. "Why", he asked again. The machine was obviously not going to tell him. So he better think up a plausible answer for Colonel Caldwell when he inevitably asked the same question.

The Colonel was here to particpate in talks related to Donald West's mutant gene and what to do about the fact he had just used it to force a wraith alliance. In addition the Major had refused to help them further, which in Caldwell's opinion amounted to insubordination.

He had not even invited the major to attend the meeting because his own stance was clear. Thus Caldwell and the others would reach a decision without him, then order him to go along with that decision.

It would not be pleasant process for the Major. But that was not Rodney's concern, finding answers was, so he turned away from the screen and selected a piece of paper, it was time to work out his own answers.

Xxxxx

Donald West shook the hand of the tall man, Halling. Teyla had invited him to meet her people , to spend time with them and learn more about their ability to sense the wraith. He found that so far, this alien man was not a lot different from humans. In his hands rested a warm drink and he was sharing many special Athosian foods, so hospitality must be a universe wide trait. A man passed him over a piece of cloth for his fingers, thank you', Don told that man.

When the man looked at him Don found his mouth opening in surprise, it was Doctor Smith'. He had hardly recognised him, his body had trimmed down a lot ,carrying a lot more muscle and he looked very tanned. Smith did not say anything to him just moving away again.

Don passed the tea pot around to Judy who had accompanied him. He wanted her by his side as they found out more about what having the gift meant. Both of them would have to deal with the fallout of any action taken over what he had already done with his gift.

"Many times our pople have escaped wraith capture, because of the gift , Halling told Don. "It is treasured amongst our people". Even in the short time he had known Tayla, Don could see how valued her opinions were with the Lanteans. She was a natural leader, warm and caring as well fiercely protective of her people. "Unfortuntely I am not of your people and that is part of the problem", Don told Teyla. She wrinkled her forehead, "I would think that made it easier, she said. "I was an unknown factor, an alien. Colonel Caldwell did recommend shutting me out of off world travel as well as sensitive information once it was found I shared some wraith DNA."

"But it should be different with you". They know you ", Teyla said firmly. She found it hard to understand why Colonel Caldwell regarded the Major with such distrust.

"Maybe that is the problem, you see there is such a thing as military protocol. It means that you take ideas through a chain of command instead of forcing them down their throats. I did something they did not like, they preferred a dead Queen and a hive full of wratih." He looked over at Halling, "you have spent a lifetime being pursued by them, so I am guessing you would prefer dead wraith as well".Don knew he sounded resigned more than angry. He had the same feelings about the wraith initially.

Halling pursed his lips, "before the Lanteans came we had to think up our own ways of dealing with the wraith. Many times we hid, but we also fought as well, making traps or using other tactics. Some of my people even used themselves as bait, giving themselves over as a sacrifice so others could live. No matter how many times we did this, wraith kept coming. There are a lot of wraith Major . Many times at night I see them, coming for us and know there will be a day when we cannot escape. But I did not let fear of that day stop me from living. Nor do any of my people. Yes we would love to live without fear, but I do not know how you can actually conquer so many wraith".

All was quiet as Halling spoke. He had a gift for telling a story, weaving the heaviness of the sorrow the Athosians felt with every breath.

Don understood that pain as he could sense what the victims of the wraith felt as the life was sucked from their bodies.

He could also see into the wraiths mind and that is what had made him change tactics and force the alliance. That was also the problem, because Caldwell thought, that linking with the wraith was changing his perspective and making him see them as victims instead of the problem.

He could not be controlled in the same way Teyla had been. But he could be overwhelmed as the force of many wraith minds, came battering in against his own. It was like fighting a battle with one soldier and one gun against a well armed force. He simply could not win. So why fight at all. There had to be another way.

But he did not know if his forced alliance would hold. His mind control would wear off and once again that wraith hive and her queen would join the others in hunting them again. Even if his directive did remain other hives would not go along with the plan and potentially just remove the troublesome Queen and her hive.

So mind control was not going to be an effective long term weapon, unless somehow Rodney McKay could find a way to mutate the ATA gene within others and give them the same ability. He was a smart man so that was certainly possible.

His wraith sensing abilities were not the only thing the Braxian gene gave him. He could also control ancient technology, though as yet he had not tested that abilities limitations and benefits.

It was that ability that made him also a risk. Because falling into the wrong hands would mean that an enemy could potentially gain access to the base.

"I think they will decide to send me home", he stated his conclusions of all his mental woolgathering. "They will send me somewhere isolated ,where they can continue to study me. Effectively I will become a lab rat".

"Surely they would not do that Major", Teyla told him. "I do not think you have done anything wrong. There are many ways they can limit any risk."

"Yes, I suppose so Teyla, but I don't actually think they like me enough to take those risks". Thats not being negative either, just stating the facts." I am the third highest ranking military officer in Atlantis and that is way to close to the top to make them feel comfortable." Don sighed, "I am not unhappy about going home".

Neither am I", stated Judy firmly. "We have family and friends there". Atlantis does not even feel close to being our home". Judy had found the people on the base to be 'clicky' they were friendly, but they would not welcome you into a circle of friends that had already been established. She felt like an outsider still.

Halling looked thoughtful, "I too miss my home", he said quietly. "It has not be easy for us either .If returning to your place of birth gives you peace, then perhaps it is the best. Our battles will continue, with or without you", he said wisely.

xxxxxx

Colonel Caldwell had what Elizabeth described as a clinical approach to problems. He based his decisons upon facts and not emotions. "Let us just send him home". Then we won't have to deal with him anymore",Caldwell stated as soon as his bottom hit the conference room seat. "He did save the life of myself and my team", Sheppard reminded him. "Yes, that is true . But he now refuses to fight and that is why we posted him to Atlantis. He has been insubordinate before, so it is hardly a surprise he has taken this stance", Calwell stated.

"That is not fair Colonel. He believed he was dying before he found out he was sharing the feeding process of the wraith. Now he has to get used to the idea you want to use his gift to somehow wage all out war", Elizabeth reminded the Colonel.

"So you are saying just give him time. That is why you sent him off to the mainland to visit the Athosians." We cannot afford to coddle him Doctor Weir. He's either committed to helping us, our way ,or he's out'. There is no middle ground here", Caldwells voice was firm.

Elizabeth heard the finality in Caldwells voice. She turned to Doctor McKay and Doctor Beckett hoping their opinions may just sway the Colonel.

"Doctor Beckett, you are the most familiar with the Major, perhaps you can give us an idea of what he is going through", she stated. '"We already know he can feel the wraith emotions, Doctor Weir", Caldwell interrupted. He just has to learn to filter any feelings they may have out." Caldwell thought that should be easy.

Beckett shook his head, "can you imagine hearing the voices of thousands of beings Colonel'. Our minds were not built for that sort of thing. "His military training makes it even harder for him to accept the idea of the power of the mind. He would rather just use a weapon. "If you want him to use his gift then, you are going to have to help him gain the control necessary. It is not going to be a fast process. Or do you just want to drive him mad, then perhaps try to give someone else the gene, so they can take up the battle instead. Sometimes those sort of things do happen', Beckett stated in disapproval.

Caldwell folded his arms and reminded the doctor, "we are at war doctor and do not have the luxury of time. if the wraith do manage to obtain the address to Each then we are going to have to be ready to fight with everything we have."

He turned away from Beckett and toward McKay. "Could you enable others to have the same abilities West does Doctor Mckay", the Colonel asked.

Rodney rubbed away the sweat. "Well" he hedged ,"the ancients did not have any success Colonel, and that means the process is extremely complex. It is not something I can just give you in a few days. If it was to be done at all it would take years of study". There he had given the man the bad news.

Caldwell raised an eyebrow, "that sounds a lot like no Mc Kay. I would have thought you would relish the challenge of proving you are actually smarter than the ancients. Surely you must have some ideas".

Rodney felt himself flush, he was feeling cornered. He looked over at Sheppard, who so far had not said one word. There was no help coming from him. "Look Colonel the ancients did not leave any notes about this gene and that fact makes me nervous. Perhaps they did not want others experimenting", Rodney explained.

"That is not good enough Doctor. If West won't fight for us, fine, we will find others that will. I am ordering you to start work on reproducing this mutant gene and I do not want it to take years"." I expect rapid progress",Caldwell stated. He ignored the frown on both Sheppard and Weir's faces. Sure they were the leaders of Atlantis, but he was the one in charge if Earth's defence. That gave him the right to look into other ways of fighting the wraith.

"We will send the Major home on medical leave. As an acknowledgement of the fact he did save lives while posted here I will not insist on any type of disciplinian action. He can be posted to the SCG initially where we can study him for awhile and gain what information we can. After that he can return to his former posting", Caldwell decided. He was not worried about the Major refusing to cooperate when he found out they were going to study him and conduct some possibly invasive tests. He was a subordinate and so would just have to put up with it.

Caldwell got up ,ready to go back to the ship. When he moved toward the conference doors, he noted that they stayed shut.

He turned toward Sheppard , "so is this a way of keeping me here Colonel, he challenged. " John Sheppard shook his head. He had been going to challenge the Colonel but had not settled upon the approach he was going to use as yet. He knew the Colonel did not like Major West and that made it more difficult to speak on his behalf. Sheppard also had no idea if he could actually control the Major if he did stay. He was used to being liked and had so far found it easy to be the military leader of Atlantis. But he was not sure Major West actually liked serving with him. That meant the Major was most likely going to cause him more problems in the future.

Donald West did miss Earth so perhaps returning there was the best outcome. He was sure he could moderate Caldwells stand on the experimentation. He moved toward the door, waiting for it to open . It stayed stubbornly shut.

Caldwell frowned, it occurred to him that perhaps Major West had returned early from his visit to the mainland and his rogue ATA gene , had activated and inadvertently locked them all in the conference room . The man was annoying and at least this sort of thing would not happen on Earth.

Elizabeth, stood up and joined Caldwell at the doors, still nothing. She contacted the control room, " we are trapped in here, any ideas what is going on".

Silence greeted her. She shifted restlessly foot to foot. Something was wrong, she could sense that.

Sheppard joined her then, his hand just touching the butt of his weapon. When the doors slid open, Elizabeth found herself relaxing. That was until she noticed a group of people had surrounded those in the control room and had weapons aimed dead centre at their heads.

"Put down your weapons", the man in the front requested. John Sheppard, took a quick moment to count the numbers of hostiles , 15 of them, way to many. He could not risk the lives of all of those in the control room. He carefully put his weapon down on the floor. Caldwell did the same.

"Who are you and what do you want", Colonel Caldwell demanded. At that moment his comm crackled and the nervous voice of one of his junior officers aboard his ship told him, "sir a ship has just come out of hyperspace in front of the Daedulus". It looks like an ancient battle cruiser".

Caldwell, swallowed, he thought that the return of the ancients was not possible as they all had departed through the Atlantis gate to Earth along time ago. But he could hardly dispute the evidence that was obviously right in front of his officer's eyes. He had no idea what to say. After all they were actually occupying these peoples base.

Elizabeth decided she had better do something so stepped forward one inch, hands palms outward by her sides, '"my name is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, we are the caretakers of this base. "Please lower your weapons".

The man in the front just scowled at her, "you are interlopers, who have come here to use our technology". It looks like you have been barely capable of keeping everything going. You are far to primitive to even know what you are dealing with", snapped the man in a condescending tone.

Caldwell used his best "I don't take any crap', voice to firmly state ."All the ancients abandoned this base and returned to Earth. Thus we are actually your descendants. We came here to explore ".

""Explore", the man spat, "we have been alerted to your efforts. You have awakened the wraith ,that act proves you are not worthy". Now you follow blindly the same course of the previous occupants of this base. They were overwhelmed and gave up the fight. "

"We will not do that. Our own home world is at threat of attack", Caldwell stated. "Perhaps you can aid us", he added boldly. "Aid you," the man hissed, "that is not why we are here".

Elizabeth put her hands up in the air, like she was asking permission to speak. So far it felt like these ancients did not want to listen to anything they had to say. She wanted to correct that. "Excuse me, why don't we all sit down and talk. You have not yet introduced yourselves."

The man gave her a brief glance. "I am called Cellin", he stated. "We do not need to talk. Our purpose here is a specific one. We have been in status a long time with our monitoring devices remaining active and awaiting the occurrence of a certain set of circumstances . Awhile ago we were awoken and upon sifting through our data have determined you are the reason our slumber has ended. We have come here for Braxia".

"For Braxia, we do not know what you are talking about", Caldwell was feeling decidedly twitchy because he knew an Ancient cruiser would be able to out gun and out run the Daedulus .As yet he did not understand what these ancients were talking about. But they seemed very angry and that was not a good sign. Cellin gave him a glare, "Braxia is a person ,he is the one who can control the wraith with his mind without being influenced himself", he explained

Caldwell felt like the tension had just gone up a notch. He was still playing the "I don't know game, despite beginning to understand what this man wanted. ""What makes you think we have someone like that",he asked calmly. Cellin actually hissed at him like an angry cat, "do not play games man, we have come across a hive of controlled wraith. Only someone with his gift could do such a thing. We cannot allow it to continue".

John Sheppard decided it was his turn to speak, "why", he asked. Cellin gave him an equally as demeaning stare. "Have you listened to the tale of the last days of war with the wraith", he asked. " The ancients on this base would have claimed the war was lost and sunk this base beneath the sea"

"We do know about that',Sheppard confirmed. "Well that was the opinion of just one group off ancients. There were others that kept up the fight".Braxia, was one of those. He disappeared in the middle of a battle and we have been searching for many years for any sign of his trail. Now we have found it again, here at this base. So I repeat, where is Braxia".

We have no idea who you are talking about"", Caldwell insisted. Cellins face had gone a little redder, he stepped forward until he was standing in front of Caldwell ,he was about 2 inches taller than the Colonel. Without warning he reached out to grab hold of the Colonels shirt and actually lifted him one inch off the ground. "I said do not play games", he hissed.

John inched his hand down slowly toward his weapon. He thought he was being discrete. But in a lightning move another of the ancients slapped his hand away and took his weapon. Stephen Caldwell was dropped downward to the ground and staggered but did not give them the satisfaction of falling. He glared over at Cellin. The man just dismissed the look and shouted, "this base is now under our control."You will all be imprisoned until you can give us what you want".The air cracked with intensity as the ancients stepped forward and grabbed hold of the personal in the control room.

Elizabeth was still unhindered and hurried to tell Cellin "please we are not your enemy. We do not understand what you are actually asking".

"Cellin looked at her like she was an ant that needed squashing underfoot. "I 'm not sure that I can be any plainer. If you do not understand then perhaps your brains are not sufficiently developed for higher though processes" .He was being very unpleasant. He said the next sentence slowly." Do you have someone who can control the minds of the wraith without being influenced themselves".

John Sheppard swallowed , they were looking for Major Donald West, he realised.

Stephen Caldwell understood that as well. He cautiously asked, "why are you looking for him".

Cellin shoved him again, "if you can ask that then the answer must be yes. Where is Braxia", he repeated.

"We do not know anyone by that name". How much plainer do we need to be", Sheppard threw some of the attitude right back. "But you do know someone with the abilities I have mentioned ", Cellin insisted, "I can tell by the looks upon your faces". You are not a people that lie well. To continue to do so, would not be in your best interests. We can be unpleasant if you do not answer truthfully", Cellin warned.

Elizabeth took a breath ,she needed to protect everyone in the control room. It seemed the ancients had already realised that the person they were looking for was here. So there was no point in lying', "yes" she admitted. "But he cannot be this Braxia you are talking about. "

"Braxia would have put himself in stasis as well, until a time when he felt that he could act without fear of censure."You do seem to know who I am talking about, even if you claim to not recognise the name. So perhaps he has come to you with a different name . It does not matter. Tell us where he is", Cellin insisted agin. He came up to Elizabeth and stared into her face. Sheppard moved over to help her only to get slapped by another ancient man.

"We will not tell you until we know why you want him", Sheppard growled as he rubbed his face.

Cellin shook his head, "you are all so stupid', he remarked coldly. "Braxia is a traitor. He is the reason the war was lost. You are in grave danger if you are providing him with sanctuary. Tell us where he is, so we can put and end to his abilities once and for all". He needs to die".

Rodney Mckay sucked in a breath and looked down at the piece of paper that was resting under his hand. He had written down several reasons why the giving Donald West the ATA gene had not removed his abilities. Some of his theories were very wild and he thought there was no way they could be accurate.

Now he had just been proved wrong. Number three on that list was correct. Donald West was actually an ancient and thus, giving him more of the ATA gene would be ineffective.

to be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Lockdown part two

John Sheppard looked out through the bars of the cell. The Ancients had forceably dragged, him, Elizabeth, Colonel Caldwell, Rodney and Beckett in here about one hour hours ago and left them. All the others in Atlantis had been locked inside their quarters. The base was now in control of the ancients and thus every system was available to them.

John knew it would not be long before the ancients had most of the information they sought. They would not have to even search for long because Becketts medical notes on Donald West were very comprehensive.

John smiled to himself, they would not actually find West though, because he was off duty and he had not logged his whereabouts into the system. So the ancients would have to get that information from them. Of course he was not inclined to be helpful. He was sure the ancients were listening to every word they said, so he might as well put on a little show for their benefit.

John wiggled about on the hard floor trying to get comfortable ."Are you sure he is an ancient", he asked Rodney. He deliberately did not use West's name. They ancients probably aleady knew it, but if they didn't well, he was not making it any easier for them. Pissing off an ancient was probably not wise, but he did not really care.

"Not 100 percent but it is a possibilty", Rodney replied with a snap. He was used to being the one who could solve problems and provide sound answers, then become the centre of attention. The ancients did not care about all of that. They just locked him in here with the others and he really hated cells. He was not even sure the answers he was giving his colleagues were accurate because he did not have all the information.

"Well he does not act like one", Caldwell remarked rather sourly. If West was faking knowing the truth then, he was doing an impressive job. "That is true, Rodney reflected, "he certainly does not have the I know everything attitude of these ancients. "Perhaps he does not realize . If he had been in statis for a long time it could have had a damaging effect on his memory."

"That has not happened to these ancients though", Caldwell pointed out. 'Not that we can tell", Rodney noted." Another possibility is that he could have ascended then been thrown out .That usually leaves you with amnesia".

Caldwell shook his head, "I do not like that theory either Doctor', he stated. "His background is well documented, all the way to his childhood." Caldwell was not using West's name either. He knew the tactics Sheppard was using and approved of them.

"Certain information could have been kept off the records", Beckett remarked. Caldwell did not like the implications of that. It could mean that someone in the military had known the truth and had offered West sanctuary giving him a career where off world travel was not possible. Caldwell's next thought created a problem with that theory. If someone had known then why had he been approved for the Jupiter project.

"I think that the curcumstances that led him to us mean that is not a possibility", he told Beckett. "I would conclude that he can't be this Braxia and we need to convince the ancients of that fact." The sooner the better too, because hopefully they would leave. Though the problem was technically the ancients did have the right to take over this facility and kick them out. He hoped that would not happen.

Approximately 5 minutes later Cellin came to stand in front of their cell ,he was alone this time.

"So the man we are looking for is called Major Donald West", he remarked as he searched their faces. He got back blank stares. These humans were baiting him, he thought, trying to block all attempts at him getting what he wanted. That did not bother him , they did not have the level of intelligence needed to try and out think him and his colleagues. He felt rather sorry for them but it was the kind of pity reserved for a small insect about to be squashed by someone who does not care about preserving a lesser creatures existence.

Elizabeth decided to break the staring game, stepping forward and admitting, "the man with the mutant gene is Donald West, but he can't be Braxia. Surely you have searched the data and come to this conclusion yourselves", she challenged.

Cellin thought she was brave being so outspoken. He admired that trait for about 1 second. "As yet we have not dismissed the possibilty, he told her. "We have been monitoring your discussions .Doctor Beckett could be correct ,Braxia could have made a deal with others upon your world to hide his identity. He would have found exile on Earth difficult and arranged to get himself placed on the Jupiter 2 mission. That craft did possess an ancient drive he was capable of operating. The so called accident, that caused his arrival here, could easily have been planned and everything that followed just an elaborate ruse to get your cooperation. Braxia still wants to fulfil his mission and that can only happen in this galaxy."

Beckett immediately shook his head . "I do not believe the emotional and physical trauma he was suffering when we found him was faked Cellin".Plus he is actually about to be sent home, so your theory does not make sense."

The ancient man did not look convinced, "you have no idea who you are dealing with". Putting himself in the role of a emotional damaged individual would not be difficult for Braxia. As for sending him back to Earth, well he has not gone yet. Perhaps he just wants to give you the impression he is leaving. I understand you consider him to be one of your own, and that makes you protective. He is however one of us, and it is up to us to deal with him. So tell us where he is", Cellin demanded.

"No", John Sheppard stated firmly. Redness crept its way up until it reached Cellins face. "Fools" he spat. "If you do not wish to tell us ,maybe others will". We can be convincing". The way he said it implied unpleasantness.

"The others don't know", Sheppard replied firmly. He had to admit that a trace of cocky smile slipped out."West is off duty, therefore he does not have report where he is going". There that would annoy the man.

Cellin did not look angry instead smiling at that answer. Sheppard found the cocky smile disappearing ,obviously he had said too much."Thank you Colonel, 'you have just limited the possible locations . Some of your people are logged as off world, if West is not on duty then he is not with them. We will look elsewhere". He cannot hide".

"If you do not need our help, then you can release us", Elizabeth insisted. Cellin shook his head, "you have taken over an ancient base without our permission. Already you have caused a lot of damage in this galaxy. We will hold you accountable for that."Your world will be notified of your fate. I do not believe Earth will want a conflict with us. They will consider you all acceptable losses". His voice was cold, devoid of any type of feeling.

"Losses", Caldwell remarked , 'what do you mean by that". He was feeling unsettled, what Cellin said was true, Earth would right them all off to avoid a conflict with a superior force. "You won't be going home, ever", Cellin stated clearly." Instead you will spend the rest of your lifetime in detention". Others of your kind will not be welcome in this galaxy".

He turned to leave, dismissing them as unimportant.

"Then who will help you defeat the wraith", Caldwell yelled before Cellin could disappear from sight. "Your one ship is not going to last long".

Cellin turned back toward them giving Caldwell a cold stare, "you do not seem to have achieved much in your time here Colonel. Your puny ship will not hold out long. Braxia can fix his mistake and end the war with the wraith now, for good. The balance of this galaxy will be restored".

Beckett was shaking his head, "he does not have that type of power", he insisted. "As I said , you have no idea who you are dealing with. He can put an end to the wraith ,just by using the power of his mind", Cellin insisted . "You will see". "We will find Donald West, you can not alter that". He turned again and strutted out.

"Damn that man", Caldwell swore. "Yes he does seem rather focused", Sheppard acknowledged. "It is only a matter of time before he finds West".

He hoped that West found out what was going on before the ancients discovered his location. There was one possibility and that rested in the hands of Major Evan Lorne, who had taken West to the Athosians in a jumper. The Major was checking on an anomaly further out on the mainland before returning to collect West. He just hoped the Major could lie well when the ancients inevitably asked him for his friends location.

xxxxxxxx

Major Evan Lorne was muttering to himself as he flew back toward the Athosian settlement. The anomaly on the sensors had turned out to be nothing more than a large creature they had not seen before. Since it was busy eating trees, he labelled it as a herbivore and therefore not a threat.

He was not muttering about the wasted trip, instead he was berating his friend for not standing up for himself. Don had accepted being left out of todays meeting about his fate, way too easily. Evan had spoken to Colonel Sheppard on his behalf and been told, 'I wish he was as passionate about his own talents as you are. If he came to ask me to speak on his behalf I would. He has not though and to be honest Evan that tells me he wants to leave". He's going to get his wish".

Evan had marched out of that meeting and into his friends quarters. "Dammit Don why don't you want to stay", he demanded. "What you did was unorthodox ,but heck that is a permanent state out here". They should not be dismissing you for saving our lives". if you told them that, I am sure that Elizabeth and Colonel Sheppard would support you".

Don turned to him, he looked tired with dark circles around his eyes. "I just can't do what they want Evan", he said firmly. "What is so hard to understand about that." I am not like you", he added.

Evan, felt his forehead furrow, "what do you mean by that", he said. Don bit his lip suddenly regretful of that last bit, "forget it", he mumbled. Now Evan felt heat rush into his face, 'it means I am just the good little solider who follows the rules and does not get into trouble". He pushed away a moments anger about Don's view of his personality. It was more or less accurate and why he had been posted here to work with the more volatile Colonel Sheppard. He had known Don long enough to be able to point out some other facts. "You have been that too Don and when you are not it is always for a reason, just like now."Make them understand that", Evan pleaded.

"No",Don replied bluntly. "Evan I can't stay here".

"Why not", Evan countered firmly. Don looked down and said nothing. Evan could see he was pale and shaking. Suddenly with a shocking clarity he understood why Don wanted to leave. "You are scared", he whispered.

"Yes", Don admitted. "I am scared of what I have already done, what I might do next and who will be affected by my actions". Evan I fear I might hurt someone unintentionally . Please just let me leave. I want to go home and not be cursed anymore"

"You are not cursed Don", Evan told him. His friend had not replied to that. Evan had persuaded him to take the offer of visiting the Athosians on the mainland. If he was going to leave at least he might be at peace with himself and what he could do. Teyla's people were good at helping people heal.

Evan returned his thoughts to his flight. He was mere minutes from collecting Don and returning him to the base. Don would leave on the Daedulus with Colonel Caldwell he guessed. He would probably end up being confined to his quarters for the entire trip home as Caldwell would not want him lurking around his ship. Don was going to hate every minute of that journey.

"Major Evan Lorne", an unfamiliar voice coming from his comm panel snapped his mind back to the jumper. He had no idea who was speaking and that made him feel uneasy. 'Yes, who are you", he demanded. "My name is Cellin ,Major. I am from the ancient cruiser Victory ,which is orbiting this planet . Many of my colleagues are currently at various locations throughout your base. Atlantis is now under our command and we hold your associates prisoner. We intend to hold them accountable for the damage they have inflicted upon our base and this galaxy. However ,Major we may be reasonable and release them all if you tell us the location of your friend Major Donald West".

Evan felt go cold. He knew he did not have any bargaining chips. Atlantis was an ancient base after all, so this man was technically entitled to have it back. He could also deal harshly with the others simply for being there. But he was not going to admit anything. He needed more facts before he could come up with a plan.

"Why are you looking for Don", he asked. Cellin knew this was an important question and decided he might as well be blunt. "You so called friend has deceived you Major. He is actually an ancient called Braxia. We want him for war crimes. So if you tell us his location we will collect him and be on our way".

Evan's mouth had dropped open in shock halfway through Cellins explanation, he hurriedly snapped it shut. "Don is not an ancient', he said with a laugh. "Don't be ridiculous". "Major others have also stated this fact. If you really believe this then there is no harm in telling us where he is. If we examine your friend we will be able to ascertain the truth", Cellin said calmly. He did intend to examine Major West, but it would be after he was dead. Major Lorne did not need to know that though. He was counting on the fact that this man would upset enough about being lied to for years that he might just give him what he wanted.

He was wrong, Evan was not inclined to let this man anywhere near Don. If he could hold the others prisoner then he was capable of doing unpleasant things to his friend. "Sorry I can't tell you", he replied firmly.

Cellin sighed audibly. Then his voice took on a harsh note, "then I am afraid I will have to use you as an example of what happens when I don't get what I want".

Evan was about to ask him what he meant when all the power in his jumper suddenly went off. The machine started to plummet downward. "We are in control of your craft now Major. If you or anyone else wants to tell us Major West's location then we will let you live. If you do not, then we will watch as your craft slams you into the planets surface". Oh and don't bother giving us a conscience trip, because we don't give a damn what happens to you."

The jumper had lost even more height during Cellin's short rant.

Sheppard and the others had heard every word that had been said. This was a deliberate action on the part of their captors. "You bastards, return power to the Jumper", John demanded.

"Only if you tell me what I want to know. I will speak slowly so you can understand, "where is Major Donald West". Cellin drew the name out making the sounds of each letter. He was being deliberately condescending, but did not care.

Sheppard was twisting his uniform around in his hands. He looked over at Caldwell who shook his head. The message was clear, do not give him what he wants. John knew Cellin wanted them to understand who was in charge. He could not do anything to help Evan. He was going to have to let this play out and it was killing him. If Cellin had been here he would have hit him, hard.

"Sorry", Sheppards answer was as much for Evan as for Cellin.

"Then Major Lorne is dead Colonel", Cellin told him. "Perhaps your ship will be next Colonel Caldwell", he added.

Stephen Caldwell clenched his fist, "you can't just attack a whole ship filled with people. They have not done anything", he yelled. "If you fire upon them, then they will defend themselves. We may not be able to destroy your ship but we could damage it severely enough that it will not be able to defend itself from further attack. I do not think you want to be vulnerable, just in case the wraith find out you are here".

For the first time Cellin hesitated. Getting what he wanted was harder than he anticipated. He could not risk damage to his ship. "Alright I will leave your ship alone for now Colonel. It will have to be you and the others that suffer next though".

Colonel Caldwell nodded, "very well, we accept that",he said. He hoped that ancients did not resort to torture.

xxxxxx

Evan looked down at the rapidly approaching ground. The jumper was going to hit hard, probably into those group of trees coming into view on the horizon. All he could do was secure himself firmly and hope he was going to survive the crash.

Moving to the rear of the jumper Evan tied himself to the walls. He closed his eyes then and tried to calm himself. Perhaps a more relaxed state would prevent major injury. His mind kept telling him, you are going to die' and that made it hard to relax.

The jumper was shaking and he felt a wave of nausea hit him. That was probably going to be the least of his problems. He guessed he had passed over the Athosian settlement and they had seen what was happening. If he was lucky they would be there to help pull him out of the wreckage. That would make the odds of survival higher. The tree line must be close now. Impact would happen within minutes.

Evan's mind took him back through every mission revisiting all the fantastic moments he had had during his time on Atlantis. He did not want to think of the other moments now, the ones where he had almost died. It was better to celebrate than commiserate .

Evan waited for the impact. Seconds passed, then minutes, nothing happened. He opened his eyes, and looked forward. The power had come back on and the jumper was rising. At first Evan thought that Cellin had just been bluffing. He dismissed that idea when he realised the craft was flying on its own, like it was been called by someone. "Don", Evan whispered with a smile. That smile disappeared when something else occurred to Evan. "No Don, you should have let me die. Now he knows where you are", he yelled to the air.

The jumper softly landed upon the ground a few minutes later and he rushed out the back to warn his friend. "Don ancients have taken over the base and are looking for you". By saving my life you have just told them where you are"

Donald West had panicked when he had seen Evan's jumper plummet from the sky. That panic had diminished his ability to gain control of the craft. You are going to let your friend die, get a grip, he had told himself. Finally his mind had settled and reached out to restore power to the jumper. The machine had obeyed him, and settled its flight until finally it landed softly before him. Now Evan was running out telling him things he could not comprehend.

"What", he remarked. Evan took a breath, he was still shaken. "Ancients have taken over Atlantis Don. They claim you are one of them".

Don just stared. Teyla, Judy ,Halling and some of the other Athosians come rushing forward then, carrying rescue items. Evan guessed they were the backup, in case Don could not control the craft.

"We have to leave this location Don. The ancients will send jumpers ", Evan warned. "Where are we going to go", Don asked. It was a very good question. Cellin had claimed he was in control of the base. He had also mentioned there was an ancient vessel. It was going to be hard to escape notice.

"I admit I do not know", Evan had to tell him. Halling looked pensive, "the ancients are the rightful owners of Atlantis. You must step aside", he told Evan. Evan shook his head, "they are holding the others prisoner". If they can try and kill me then goodness knows what they might do to the others."

Teyla nodded, "you are right Major. The ancients do not have the right to threaten the life of the others". We must find a way to free all those they are holding captive".

Don sucked out a breath, "that means going to them", he stated. He looked over at Halling. "can we expect any help from you", he asked. Halling shook his head, "we will not going against the ancestors", he stated. Evan gave him a glare, "they say Don is an ancient ,you could pretend it is true", he challenged. Don gave him a scowl, "come on Evan it is a really stupid claim". If Halling does not want to help us fine. We will try an attempt a rescue". All we need to do is figure out a plan", Don stated.

Halling shook his head, "you cannot win Major. They are the ancients, they control everything." Evan looked grave, he knew exactly what they were up against. He admired the fact Don was willing to try and help. This was one of the times he was being a good soldier.

"Well all we need is a really smart man and I know where to find one of those", Don stated. "Who are you talking about", Teyla asked. "Doctor Zachary Smith. He is always boasting of his superior intellect and this will give him an opportunity to prove how smart he really is", Don replied. Evan shook his head, "there is no way he is going to help you Don", he stated. "Yes there is Evan. I give him what he wants, a trip back to Earth. You will agree to that won't you Doctor Smith", Don threw the challenge out seemingly at a tree.

When a man stepped out from behind that tree Evan wondered how Don had know Smith was listening to everything that was being said. "It is what he does", Don whispered to him.

"You cannot give me a trip back to Earth Major", Doctor Zachary Smith snapped back. How the heck did Donald West always manage to catch him out. He really loathed the Major. "I think I could arrange it if you helped us Smith. Colonel Caldwell could put some measures in place,that would guarantee your silence about the Pegasus galaxy and what is happening here." So all you will have to do is put aside some of your attitude", Don challenged.

Smith really liked the idea of going back to Earth. It was actually worth trusting the Major. If he dared to betray him again then he just might decide to actually choke him to death this time.

"Alright", he agreed.

Now all they had to do was come up with a plan.

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Lockdown part three

"You cannot use any of their technology", Doctor Zachary Smith stated to Lorne, Don and Teyla. Evan gave him a sour look, "that is not what I wanted to hear Doctor", he stated firmly. "You are on the team to help us to find a way to counter their affect upon the technology". Smith knew Evan Lorne did not like him, but it did not bother him."You are like ants trying to attack a giant Major", he stated firmly. He did not refer to himself as an ant, he felt more important than that. "You don't even know what most of the ancient technology does. So they have the technological advantage. You are probably lucky they did not cause the jumper to explode instead of turning off its engines. Next time they may do it, especially if he is inside", Smith pointed to Don.

Evan took offence at the scorn in Smith's voice when he talked about Don. He grabbed hold of him, firmly and lugged him off away from the group. 'His name is Donald West. If you even think of betraying him and deciding to make a deal with the Ancients remember one thing, they have access to all the information. Therefore they know you had something to do with the fact a stolen Ancient drive was on the Jupiter 2. Perhaps they will want to question you further Smith and get the answer your colleagues would not give Caldwell." Evan let go of Doctor Smith noting that he looked suitably nervous.

"You've made your point Major", Smith told him. Now can we return to our mission plan." He stalked back over to where Teyla, Don and Judy waited. "We need a way that does not involve using ancient technology", he stated. "Well if we are ants then we sneak up and bite the giants on the foot", Don replied. "Then you get stepped on", Smith told him scornfully . "Not necessarily, Don stated firmly, "ants are strong adaptive creatures." Smith growled at him, "why are you talking about ants Major, it was just for comparison". "Well it is a comparison we can use", Don said calmly. "Ants work together as a team and are stronger that way." They are also very annoying when they invade your home".

"Yes thats true,once ants caused power outages in our home because they ate through the wires", Judy offered. Smith rolled his eyes .Don looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled at her, "darling, that is a wonderful idea", he said.

Teyla was totally confused by all the talk about ants, "what's a wonderful idea", she asked. "We wreck stuff", Don stated, "that way they also lose control. Doctor Smith can help us by telling us which systems will do vital damage. We also don't want to accidentally trigger defensive measures ".

"There may be minor systems Smith can override to help us proceed through the base. I better not try and influence any of the technology because the ancients can just override it again. They will also know where I am".

Evan nodded thoughtfully, the plan had its merits. It would also cause a lot of damage. He could not think of another way though. "Alright", he agreed. He looked at his small team or 5, was that going to be enough he wondered. Normally he would ask Judy to stay behind, as she was not trained for missions like this. However he could not risk the Ancients capturing her and using her against them.

They had already moved away from their previous location because it was compromised. The Ancients would conduct a thorough search. Hopefully they would not expect them to be heading toward the base. Once they got into the base they would have a major problem, the life signs detector. This would have to be one of the first systems they compromised.

"Right lets move out and use the vegetation for cover", Evan suggested. "This is the easy part ", Teyla remarked. The hard part will be getting over to the city. The water is too deep to make swimming a possibility".

"We'll find a way", Evan stated, though admittedly he had not thought of a suitable plan yet. He just wanted to keep them moving.

They jogged through the undergrowth with Smith easily keeping up the pace. He did not complain either ,which was unusual . It did not take them long to get to the difficult part, the huge expanse of water.

"Suggestions", Evan asked. They would have to use a method where they would be almost invisible to any jumpers that were searching overhead . Nobody said anything for a very long time.

"What is that", Don pointed to the masses of green vegetation that floated upon the surface of the water. "It is a mass of plant life comprising of a couple of different species that bind together forming a shell. Inside that shell, a small creature Colonel Sheppard affectionately calls greeny lives". "It's one of those cute little creatures that makes everyone go mushy. That is probably why it lives inside the plants, so it is safe from predators and well meaning humans who want a pet", Evan told him

Don thought about the description for a moment, "so those plants would give off a heat signature", he asked. "Yes, they would ", Evan replied speculatively .He sensed a plan was forming in his friends mind. Knowing Don, it was going to be a wild one.

"So we could hide inside the mass, if it is dense enough. Our clothing should just blend in and make detection extremely difficult", Don suggested. He scanned over the water noting the amount of plant masses present. "They are all naturally drifting toward Atlantis and that could aid our plan. If we towed some empty ones along it would look less suspicious if a heap of them landed upon the edges of the city".

Evan grinned, this plan was way wackier than he could come up with. It was times like these that Don's less traditional approach to problems could be an advantage. "I like it", Evan told him. He noted the frown on Doctor Smiths face, perhaps he did not like the thought of getting wet. "Let's all find the largest masses of plants we can and then get moving", Evan ordered.

xxxxxx

Colonel Sheppard had finished pacing and was now sitting restlessly upon the floor of the cell. They had no way of knowing what was happening but he thought it was significant that Cellin had not come to boast about capturing West.

"It is interesting that they are not giving specifics about what this Braxia has done", Rodney stated thoughtfully. "Yes I agree ", Elizabeth remarked, .Braxia is supposed to have committed a serious infraction ,so they should be eager to share that information. That they are not is in my opinion significant".

" Do you think they are lying", Colonel Caldwell asked.

Rodney thought about that. "There is no specific information in the data base " he stated. "Therefore perhaps all they have done, is make up a plausible excuse for looking for West. They are a hyper intelligent race that regard us as inferior so they may have just thought that a basic story would be enough." Perhaps they want him for experimental purposes".There are more wraith in this galaxy than ever before and they know that we have not made great inroads into defeating them. So maybe they want to do what we did, use West's power". They could have gained enough knowledge to know how to duplicate the mutation that causes his abilities. They would not want to share that type of information with us, just in case the wraith got hold of the knowledge".

Colonel Caldwell looked pensive about McKays theory, "they could have asked for West, Mckay , we might have agreed on an alliance". "The ancients may not want one", Sheppard stated, "it is obvious how they feel about us".

"That is true", Elizabeth said sadly. They already have our fate planned"." Rodney ,your theory might not be correct but I do feel that there is more to their story."However we may never get told the truth".

Nobody even talked about the possibility of escape because, with the Ancients in charge the powers of Atlantis could easily be turned against them. They had to think of the fact that both military and civilian personal were all locked in their quarters. The ancients could make those people suffer, if they chose to do so.

Caldwell wondered how long it would take his crew on the Daedulus to get twitchy about not hearing from him. If they took any action, they would have to be very careful as no doubt the Ancient cruiser was monitoring their every move.

It felt frustrating to not know what was going on.

xxxxxx

The crew of the Daedulus did feel 'twitchy'. Colonel Caldwell had failed to respond to their hails. When they had tried to contact anyone else on Atlantis static was their only answer. Something serious was obviously happening down in the city. But they needed more information before they could come up with a plan of action.

That information came in the form of one brief message from the massive Ancient cruiser. "All the personal in the City of Atlantis are our prisoners. At the moment they are simply held in secure locations and have not been harmed."We are monitoring all your activities, if you activate your weapons system or try to launch any type of craft, we will view it as an act of hostility."Our weapons are capable of destroying your ship". Please await further instructions". They let them see just for an instant that the cruiser was heavily armed and had a crew compliment of thousands. After that the ship went dark, meaning they were unable to detect anything. When they requested a conversation with the ships Commander all they got back was silence.

The ship just hung in front of them like an avenging angel, ready to strike them down if necessary.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cellin was looking at the scanners as he prowled around the control room. He was waiting for some sign that Braxia a.k.a. Major Donald West was trying to sneak into Atlantis.

Since Major Lorne had not died when they had taken over his jumper, Cellin felt that he would convince his friend to try and rescue the others. Since West believed he was military he would most likely comply.

All they had to do wait which the hardest part for Cellin. He studied the sensor readout on the large screen ,almost willing it to show something.

"What are those", he asked as he noted several large masses drifting toward the city. "The sensors say they are a mass of plant life", Tymin replied. "There is around 100 plants in total and it looks like they will actually land all around the edges of the city".They are harmless ,so I would not be concerned".

Cellin considered that last statement. The tides were washing the plantlike toward the city. Yet the numbers of plants coming this way was kind of disturbing. Surely it was not possible for that many plants to be all coming toward the city, at the same time ,in more or less a formation. The plants had no means to propel themselves along. It was unnatural. He had to consider more was going on here.

He watched as the first of the plants reached the city and landed on the outskirts of the piers. Since nothing else was happening , he felt like this event needed further study. "I think that the arrival of those plants is a little too fortuitous "he told his colleagues." Since they are living matter they give off heat would be possible that larger lifeforms could use that fact. Let's check them out" ."I will take a force of ten down to check on some of the landing sights". The rest of you stay here ".

He was not going to take the risk of leaving the control room unattended.

xxxxxxxxx

In the rapidly moving tide it had not taken long for Evan's plant cocoon to drift over to the North Pier. His clothing was barely wet, he noted. Quickly jumping out he started putting their plan into action. The quickest way to break things was unfortunately going to be loud and let the Ancients know exactly where he was. He could not worry about that. So he started to shoot, everything and anything. Admittedly it was very satisfying.

He'd been blasting away for about 5 minutes when he saw two Ancients running his way. They were heavily armed. He hurriedly stopped firing and ran in the opposite direction intending on damaging other parts of the pier. Unfortunately he did not get far as two other Ancients intercepted him. Since he had used up all his ammunition, he put his hands in the air as they turned their weapons toward him.

"Ah Major Evan Lorne", Cellin remarked as he looked him up and down. "Admittedly trying to sneak into the base by using those plant forms as cover was a very clever plan. But not quite good enough". Now you have been captured. All I need from you is the location of Donald West. I am guessing he will land with the other plants froms somewhere on the edges of the city. It would save time of you told me where".

"Not a chance", Evan stated firmly. "I see", Cellin replied calmly. He stared at Evan for a moment then stepped forward and without warning raised his fist and slammed it straight into Evan's face. He hit with a force hard enough to knock Evan sprawling.

Cellin's tone changed from calm to angry ,"come now Major be reasonable. I know you think he is your friend, but he is just faking, conning you. Tell me where he is",

Evan got to his feet and stood tall and proud, "no', he repeated . Cellin shot forward agains, moving with a swift catlike grace. Evan hardly registered the movement until the man hit into him again harder than before .It was like running into a solid wall at full speed, Evan felt his legs fold from underneath him and he fell to the ground. Before he could raise himself off the ground, Cellin had moved again kicking him hard in the chest. He let out a cry of pain and rolled over, trying to shield the more vulnerable parts of his body. Cellin grabbed him hard and turned him over to face him. The other Ancients just stood by weapons pointing his way.

If you do not tell me now where Major West is located, "I will order the drones to attack each of the plant forms Major", Cellin told him bluntly.

That told Evan that Cellin had no intention of taking Don alive. He really could not understand why this man was so determined to hurt his friend. He was rather cold and calculating about it, just like he was swatting away an annoying fly. There would be no reasoning with him, Evan realised . "You bastard", he grunted harshly. "I don't care what you think of me Major", Cellin snapped back. "Now tell me what I want to know", he emphasised his words with a slow hard kick to Evan's chest.

Evan felt one of his ribs break and grunted in pain. "I can do far worse Major,we are capable of causing unimaginable pain. Don't put yourself through that. You know we will find him eventually", Cellin stated firmly. Evan shut his eyes, shivering at the tone of pure malice . Cellin was not lying about torturing him. He made a quick choice,"Don was inside a plant form heading for the South pier", he stated. He had given basic information without revealing too much. Cellin smiled, "thank you Major", he acknowledged. "Rudrick, drag the Major off to join his colleagues", he snapped out to one of his men.

Evan hissed in pain as that man grabbed his hair firmly in his grasp and dragged him forward."Stop, I'll walk", Evan growled up at the man. That Ancient just gave him another kick, "shut up", he stated. "You are where you belong, on the ground, don't give me any trouble or I will shoot you". Rudrick accompanied that threat with another solid kick to the stomach. He continued to drag him at a slow steady pace.

Closing his eyes, Evan tried to relax his body. He knew he was going to end up bruised and battered by the time they made it to the holding cells. Rudrick was not gentle in his grip or careful about where he went, often letting Evan's feet hit into solid objects. He seemed to take pleasure in this action, picking the heaviest of items to hit his body against. The message was clear, do as you are told and submit. Looking down at his legs, Evan could clearly see bruises and abrasions.

"I am enjoying this trip", Rudrick told him with an evil smile. He stopped and gave him another kick to the stomach. "Tell me you are enjoying it Major". Evan said nothing. Rudrick drew back his free arm and hit it forcefully into Evan's face. His head shot backward slamming painfully into the hard floor. Evan's vision wavered in and out as white blinding pain shot though his body. He felt like he was going to be violently sick. Rudrick hit him again. The spots dancing in front of Evan's eyes turned an angry shade of red, then they faded out entirely as he gave into the pain.

xxxxxx

"Major Lorne", the voice seemed to be coming from along way away. Evan forced his eyes open and looked up into Beckett's concerned face.

"Take it easy laddie you've had a rough time", Beckett remarked as he held an ice pack to his face. He was the master of understatement. Carefully moving his head Evan studied the faces around him. They all looked angry he noted.

Earlier, Elizabeth had actually sworn at the Ancient man, as he had dragged an obviously unconscious Evan close to the cell. That man just gave her a cold stare and pointed his gun at Evan's head. "Step outside the cell, he ordered. "Then drag him inside woman or I'll shoot him now", he told her.

"This is unacceptable treatment", Elizabeth protested as she gently got hold of Lorne. The Ancient man had his eyes firmly upon the others and his gun never wavered from its position. She felt it was wise not to protest any further and had dragged Lorne into the cell.

John came over to kneel beside Lorne. He really wanted to put his fist, or his gun firmly in the Ancients leaders face. The bastard did not have to let one of his people beat up Lorne. It was a message and a warning. This situation was feeling more dangerous as time went by. McKay could not use his brilliance to get out of this situation as the Ancients were monitoring them. That too was infuriating .

He had been counting on the fact Evan was free. Now that fact had changed and he needed to know why."Major what are you doing back in the city", Sheppard asked. Evan went to form words of an answer and found it extremely painful to move his jaw. 'You have some severe bruising on your face laddie, but nothing is broken", Beckett told him.

Finally after a few minutes of burning hot pain he got the words out. "We thought it would be a good plan to hide in the plant forms and drift over to the City. Once here we would damage as many systems as we could", Lorne replied. "Hopefully that would disrupt them enough that we could rescue all of you".

"As plans go, it was clever", Sheppard acknowledged. "Not good enough though", Lorne sighed. 'It may not be long until they find the others".

In fact it was a whole hour later when Teyla was thrown into the cell by three armed men, one of whom was Cellin. She had one long bruise on her face, that clearly told them the Ancients had also questioned her.

Cellin did not stop to talk to them, just marching off with heavy stomping steps that indicated he was not a happy man.

"Are you alright Teyla", Sheppard asked. "Yeah, the one that did this is not though", she said as she rubbed her face. John smiled at that.

"So whats happening Teyla", John whispered. He hoped the Ancients could not hear him. Teyla smiled, 'they have not found Donald West yet", she told him.

Cellin was incensed about that fact. "Where is he", he demanded. "There was evidence of minor damage on the South Pier Cellin, but no signs of anyone present. Donald West may have entered portions of the base that were damaged when the City's shield started to fail while it was submerged. With the extra damage these new invaders have caused, none of the sensors in that part of the city are working", he was told

"Clever, but he can't do anything much way over there. Sooner or later he is going to have to come to the control room, Cellin decided. "We could threaten to kill the others", that would make him come to us", Rudrick suggested. "He will come to us Rudrick and killing the others is not going to stop him", Cellin warned. "So far he is clever enough to have evaded capture. West let us capture Major Lorne, so he would have time to get into the unmonitored parts of the city. What he plans to do next, is not something he would have shared with the others. So killing them would achieve nothing. We will keep them alive as bargaining chips in case, he tries something drastic", Cellin stated.

He kept a watch on the life signs detector hoping, that sooner or later West would slip up and reveal his location.

Another hour passed, and still no unaccounted for life signs registered. Cellin began to wonder if West actually would come to them or if he was trying to reduce their numbers by having them try to find him.

"Go back and start from the damage portions of the South Pier, see if you can find a trail', he requested to the searchers. Stay in groups of at least two and keep alert, West may be hiding somewhere."

Cellin tapped his fingers on a nearby console while he waited. Finally after another 20 minutes had passed he got told, "when we looked closely at the damage on the South Pier we found evidence it was caused by a long range attack. Upon checking the nearby structures to that area we found no signs of any recent habitation. I would say that Lorne was lying about where Major West landed in the City."

Shattering glass was the response to that statement. Cellin had thrown one of the nearby chairs through a screen. "Damn the man", he raged. "So Major West has now had time to enter any of the other damaged portions of the City".We have no idea where he is or what the hell he is going to do".

"No, but I don't understand his plan", Rudrick remarked, "he can't control any vital systems from those damaged areas. His friends are still held prisoner and we are still in charge of Atlantis".

"Yeah well he is annoying me and that is a minor victory."He has to be somewhere on the outskirts of the City", Cellin remarked. West must be thinking that eventually we will become tired and he will have an opportunity to rescue the others while our guard is down." Cellin admitted to himself that he was more than tired, his hand shook with exhaustion, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep. He was not going to let Donald West win that easily.

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- Lockdown part 4

Cellin did not realise that he had already lost...

"You know this is crazy", Smith stated to Donald West. "Just do what I asked Smith", Don shouted. "I can't", Smith told him firmly. "Stop bullshitting me Smith, of course you can do it", Don snapped back. "Just think about Earth Smith and how much you want to go home. Then I am sure you will find a way."

Doctor Zachary Smith shook his head then turned back to his task. Donald West was the most infuriating man he had even known. He also had to admit that he was also quite clever. The Ancients would have no idea what he was planning to do. "The adjustments I make may not hold for long", he warned. "They do not have to Smith, Don replied.

Don shifted nervously from foot to foot. "I hope Evan will be okay", he remarked softly to Judy." It is a terrible risk to take, especially since they have already tried to kill him". "Lorne is taking that risk for the others as well as for you", Judy reminded him. "I know, it's just that I hate the fact I cannot tell him everything", Don told her.

"What he does not know he can't tell to the Ancients, that part of your plan I have no problem with", Smith stated from where he worked. "It is the rest that is crazy'.

"We need an advantage, Don told him. "With the others in captivity its going to need some powerful persuasion to come into play before the Ancients will let them go".

"Either persuasion or surrender", Smith hinted. Don looked at him scornfully, "what do you suggest I do Smith, lie and tell them that I am actually an Ancient".

Smith grunted hard, "yeah right, that would not be believable. I don't even understand how they could even consider the possibility". His tone was condescending .

Don ignored him, though it was difficult. "When will we be ready to go Smith. We do have a time frame you know. Sooner or later the Ancients are going to know they were fooled".

Smith mumbled and grunted in response. Several minutes later he finally moved from the panel he'd been working on and announced, "alright I did it".

Don walked up the ramp and into the jumper. He had initially intended to go through with the plan he had suggested . But as they got closer to the water, he had decided that plan was not sufficient.

It was better if they had another approach, one of which even his best friend was not aware. "Evan", he had stated as they dragged the plant forms close to the shore. 'Yes", his friend had turned to regard him. Don pulled him off to one side, "this plan is not going to work".A whole lot of plant forms landing around Atlantis will be significant enough for the Ancients to investigate". Evan blew out a breath, and after a few minutes admitted, "yes, I'd check something like that out"."I guess we are not thinking through our plans carefully enough. We are facing people who possess some of the most brilliance minds in existence. So we need another plan", he stated. "Not necessarily", Don told him. "We could use the fact they will have to check out all of the plant forms to our advantage. It will give me enough time to try something else".

Evan swallowed he did not like what Don was telling him. "What are you going to do", he asked. "I can't tell you Evan, because if you are captured they may force you to reveal that information", Don licked his lips. "Evan if you go along with my plan, you will be in deadly danger. The Ancients have proved that they are willing to sacrifice people."

His friend had just nodded, "in this galaxy death is always only a moment away". If this plan of your gives us a better chance then I will carry it out." He put out his hand to shake Don's. Instead he got pulled into a brief hug. "If things look bad Evan tell them I am at the South Pier," Don insisted. Evan hesitated,"No Don, that is not how it works". Don shook him slightly ,"please Evan just do it" .Evan frowned, then finally agreed, "good luck", they told each other.

Don had gotten into the water on a plant form, just to make it look like he was actually going over to the city. He had let the others go ahead and once they were out of sight had turned back to the shore. Smith and Judy had followed him.

"So Major, what are we going to do. Smith had asked. "You are going to use that brilliant mind of use to make that Jumper fly without using the Ancient gene. Then you are to disable every Ancient device on that jumper except the cloak", Don stated. Smith shook his head, "then it won't even get of the ground Major", he stated firmly. 'Yes, it will Smith. The Ancients are not stupid people and they would have ensured the Jumper had backups in case either all the Ancient crew or all the Ancient components were no longer functioning."

"You were the one that altered the drive on the Jupiter 2, and don't bother denying it or blaming other people like you usually do", Don snapped. Smith shrugged, "alright, I won't bother lying. I wanted to earn a lot of money from a new drive. You really screwed my plans up Major".

"Well at least we are all alive". Because as I remember your design did not work all that well". If I had not been present you'd be dead", Don countered. So he was throwing that in his face again. But he did have a point Smith decided, he would do as the Major suggested. Maybe this time he could actually make his modifications work. He set to work.

They had remained hidden in the undergrowth until Smith had rigged up a system that looked like it could fail at any moment. With a shaky breath Don took Judy's hand and entered the jumper. He sat himself in the pilots seat and activated the engines.

The Jumper rose off the ground. "Well done Smith", Don complimented. Smith just grunted. He was not sure how long the modifications were going to hold. It had been more difficult to make the adjustments than anticipated. He had always arrogantly believed that he would not find any technical task impossible. But when he looked at the complexity of the Ancient jumper, he had to rethink that belief. All he could do was by pass several systems .Hopefully they would make it into the City before those bypasses failed.

It did not take him long to realise that Don was not heading for the City, instead they were rapidly rising. He felt himself go pale as he realised where the Major was intending to go.

"I thought entering the City would be our objective", he whispered out shakily. What the heck did West think he was doing. That man was frigging crazy and as usual he was along for the ride. "'Yes and so would the Ancients Smith. As I said we need something significant. They will not suspect that were are heading for the cruiser", Don replied.

Smith could not take his eyes of the large Ancient ship as it rapidly became more than just a dot. He had his fingers crossed hoping that the cloak would not fail. All it would take would be one shot and the Earth ship could not prevent that happening.

Don did not try to contact the Daedulus, that would just give away their location. He guessed the crew of the Earth ship were anxious about what was happening. They could not do much though.

He was on his own and that was scary. Don made a visual scan of the Ancient Cruiser trying to locate the landing bays. He did not dare touch any of the other systems in case he inadvertently caused Smith's alterations to fail. Finally after a few minutes of intense study he found the bays at the rear of the mighty ship. "Once we land we head for the bridge", he told the others.

Smith shook his head again, Donald West was frigging crazy if he thought they could make it to the bridge without getting spotted. Shaking his head he began to think up his own plan. That cruiser had the ability to take him back to Earth. All he would need was a really good story, and of course giving them Donald West.

He had to admit that he did not really care what the Ancients did to the Major. He'd suffered while in the Pegasus galaxy and it was about time he got some pay back for that.

Smith pretended to be totally calm as Don circled the Ancient cruiser then brought the Jumper into the port landing bay.

They had made it on board, now came the hard part. Strangely there were no signs of life in the landing bays. Smith would have thought the Ancients had pilots here, awaiting a call to land at Atlantis.

Don hit the button that activated the rear hatch. Smith did not wait any longer, Don and Judy were still checking for life signs , so he took the opportunity to run as fast as he could out of the jumper and into the cruiser.

Judy actually growled as she saw him vanish down one of the corridors. "Don't worry Judy we can count on Smith to get himself into trouble. Hopefully the Ancients will be too busy focusing on him to bother about us", Don told her.

He grabbed the life signs detector from the side of the jumper and with Judy at his side hurried down the ramp and into the massive ship. Immediately Don, noted lots of little dots on the detector. He had expected a large crew compliment so that was not a surprise. The fact none of the dots were moving was. Perhaps though they might just be concentrating on their tasks. They did have the element of surprise.

Creeping slowly down the corridor Don kept one eye on the detector, so far nobody was coming this way.

While they were moving past a side room, Don noted that only two Ancients were present in the area. He decided it was worth the risk to check on those Ancients.

The door opened as soon as Don approached . He and Judy had their weapons ready as they entered.

xxxxxxxx

Doctor Smith had not worried about being stealthy, he wanted someone to find him. Running down the corridor he made sure he looked suitably distressed as he yelled, "help, help", loudly. He expected that the Ancients would respond quickly to his plea and he could weave an them a sad tale.

So far though, all was silent around him. It was actually creepy. Maybe the Ancients simply did not care .That was a sobering thought. But it did not stop him. Perhaps he just had to put on a better act.

So he ran faster and screamed louder until finally his voice gave out. His legs were also feeling shaky, he'd probably run across most of the ship.

Now in front of him was a sealed door. He smiled, it was time to prove he was nearly as brilliant as an Ancient. At the side of the door was a panel. Using a knife he had secreted in his pocket, he forced that panel open.

It was satisfying when the door opened 20 minutes later. He stepped forward and paused as he realised what this rooms function was. He had actually made it to the bridge. It was a fascinating and high tech place, filled with consoles . He would have no idea what most of this stuff did. But he did not need to know that. He just focused upon the massive captains chair that was facing toward the view screen. Straining his eyes, he could just make out a sleeve of someone sitting in that chair. Around the bridge other chairs also faced away from him. Not one of them was turned his way. They were all engrossed in their consoles. It was time to let them know he was there. Smith cleared his throat loudly. When that achieved nothing he resorted to screaming "help", loudly.

The lack of response was chilling. Smith carefully approached the central chair. Seconds later he let out another piercing scream, this one was genuine.

xxxxxxxx

Smith was sitting on the floor of the bridge when Judy and Don joined him. His ghostly pale complexion, told Don he had already found out the truth about this ship. Moving forward to the Captains chair, Don pushed the corpse out of the way and sat down. "How can you do that" Smith protested as he jumped aside rapidly. The body did not make a sound as it hit the ground. In fact it almost disintegrated into dust.

"He's dead Smith", Don stated firmly. "This is the only way we can find out what happened"

Don took a moment to make himself comfortable. It was thrilling to be sitting in the command chair of this massive cruiser. He looked at the console in front of him. One significant fact was flashing. "There were 1100 crew members on this ship". All expect one of them are dead", he told Judy and Smith. It was horrific, chilling. Suddenly the chair did not feel so comfortable. This was a dead ship.

"I don't get it", Judy remarked. "Why would you leave a ship filled with dead people hovering over the planet".

"Because they thought the threat of an Ancient ship was enough", Don replied. "Who would question them, if a force suddenly arrived at Atlantis and demanded the city back. Sheppard would not know that only one of those people actually was an ancient". Don found a picture of that man. He was one of the junior officers called Cellin.

"He must have gotten some people to pretend to be Ancients and bought them onto the ship. "At the moment Cellin must believe that he is still in control", Don stated , "we have to find a way to influence the Ancient technology on the base from this ship."If we can free the others they can retake the city."

"Good luck with that Major", Smith stated, "Look at all these consoles, this is way above my league and certainly out of yours. If you go randomly tapping buttons who knows what you might do. Get the Daedulus to send some craft over and get us . Someone on board might know how some of these things work'. He was in awe of the Ancients technology and felt rather small.

Don actually smiled at him and for once he found himself feeling chilled. Why was he now suddenly afraid of Donald West. Perhaps it was to do with the fact the Major reminded him "you forget Smith, I don't have to tap buttons".

All around him the Ancient cruiser suddenly awoke as the mind of Donald West made contact.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Sir, it moved", Lt. Marks said nervously to the deck officer. Major Nigel Tyne swallowed down some saliva that had risen into his throat. He'd only served aboard the Daedulus for 3 weeks and had already discovered that the Pegasus galaxy was a dangerous place.

Now a massive Ancient cruiser had suddenly powered up all of its weapons. It could blast them out of the sky easily. Even though he did not expect a response he hailed them, "attention Ancient cruiser please explain your intent".

His hands were sweating while he awaited a reply. That sweat did not fade away when a response came.

"This is Major Donald West aboard the Ancient cruiser. We have found no signs of life aboard this vessel. It seems like they were pulling some sort of con. I can free all those held captive within Atlantis. There are still 15 hostiles in the City. I would suggest you prepare some 402's in case they attempt to use Jumpers to escape."

Major Tyne did not try to disagree with him.

xxxxxxx

Colonel Sheppard was surprised when the force field around the cell, simply turned off and the door opened. Suspecting a trap of some kind ,he and Caldwell carefully forged forward.

They found many of the other personal mingling in the corridor. So they were not the only ones who had been freed.

"I think it is time, to retake the base", Caldwell told them.

On mass, they surged into the control room. It was totally empty.

Sheppard checked the sensors, there was no sign of the invaders. It looked like they had left. Checking on the console that recorded gate activity he noted that the Stargate had been activated approximately 10 minutes ago. The address had not been recorded.

Caldwell hurried to contact the Daedulus. "Is the Ancient cruiser still in orbit", he asked. "Yes sir', came a reply in a very familiar voice.

"West", Caldwell spluttered. 'Yes Sir, I am currently sitting in the Captains chair of the Ancient cruiser", Don told him.

Don grinned as he added, "I have taken command of the vessel".

Caldwell had no idea what to say. He had to admit he underestimated West. "Secure the ship Major ,then report back to Atlantis, we need to know what has happened.'

"Very well Sir", came Don's reply.

xxxxxxx

One hour later Don settled himself in a chair in the conference room and readied himself to debrief the others. He felt nervous about the fact that all of the senior personal were waiting for him to speak. He was not sure he even understood what had gone on. But he could present the log of the Ancient cruiser Victory. "The floor is yours Major", Caldwell invited, after silence had stretched out a little too long.

"Sir, I had originally proposed the plan of sneaking into Atlantis using the plant forms as cover", Don began. He swallowed, this was the bit he did not like saying. "The more I thought about that idea, the more I realised it would not work." To persuade the Ancients to leave we needed something big and bold. So I decided to board the Ancient ship. Only I did not tell Major Lorne my plan because I expected he would eventually get captured".

Don knew now what happened to Evan and felt horribly guilty. "Thats why you asked him to reveal your location if captured, because it was a lie anyway", Sheppard acknowledged. He'd already debriefed Lorne. "Yes, admitted Don.

Sheppard could see the guilt all over the Majors face, he felt responsible for what happened to Lorne. "What they did to him was a message, Major. It could have easily been any of us. I know it is difficult, but your strategy was sound. Your plans would have ended rapidly if Cellin had found out you intended to head for the cruiser. It was an inspired plan Major".

Don did not meet his eyes. it was going to take him awhile to not feel guilty. Evan was the only one who had suffered. He took a breath then continued. "Once we were on board the Cruiser it was obvious something was not right. All the crew were just ignoring our presence and that could not just be because of arrogance."

He shivered as he remembered finding the first corpse. "Once we got to the bridge I activated the log to try and find out what the ships mission was". Don tapped a button and showed the others the log. "It was fairly easy to find out what they intended. I would have thought they would have hidden the information".

Don waited for the others to read the log. "Major, can you just save time and read it for us", Caldwell requested after a quick glance at Mckay.

"Yes Sir", Don agreed. He supposed it was easier than all of them reading through the information at different speeds.

"Cellin awakened from stasis approximately 1 week ago. At that time the Victory was already on route to Atlantis. The address of the City was preprogrammed by persons unknown. He was instructed to kill the person who possessed the Braxian gene then return on the Victory to coordinates that were also preprogrammed into the ships drive."Cellin stopped off at an undisclosed planet and recruited some of the native population to be fake Ancients. Perhaps he could not persuade large numbers to aid him and hence only had a small force."

"Or it could have been arrogance ", Sheppard observed. "He might have believe that one Ancient was enough to hold Atlantis". It had nearly worked.

Anyway sirs", Don continued ,"there is no record of who set either of the coordinates . I am guessing you would have to travel to the second set to find that out. ."Perhaps that could also be another reason they beat Lorne, they wanted us to be angry enough to plan retaliation".Most likely there is a trap of some sort waiting at those coordinates but we could not know for sure". Don wound down his report. "It is hard to ascertain Cellin's true purpose sir. He gave up quite easily and gifted us with an Ancient warship. Though I did run a quick assessment of all its systems and determined that it is not in very good shape".

"It's still an Ancient cruiser "Colonel Caldwell observed. "We can make repairs. "That is all we need for now Major. Why don't you go and visit Major Lorne in the med bay".

"Thank you sir ", Don replied as he hurriedly got out of his chair and left.

Once the door had closed behind him Caldwell turned to Beckett and McKay, "will one of you please explain", he asked.

"He was acting like he was reading English", Beckett observed. "I would say it is his mutant gene coming into play and giving him the ability to understand Ancient".

"He certainly needed translation skills on the cruiser", Sheppard agreed. "That is true, but he is way ahead of anyone on Earth and you know we have been working on the language for years," Caldwell observed. "If I look at what happened here today I have to wonder if it was a test. Someone wanted to know exactly what Major West could do". So they sent in Cellin and some bogus Ancients to find out. Anything else does not make a lot of sense. It is why they gave up and left once West gained control of the cruiser. When that Ancient cruiser does not meet at the rendezvous they will have their answer." Caldwell made the next leap, "I think it is possible he actually is an Ancient. Certainly I can't sent him back to Earth without finding out more."

"To do that we have to go to those coordinates", Sheppard stated. "Yes, Caldwell agreed. "I think we may need to work on the weapons of that Ancient cruiser first just in case it is a trap of some kind".

"What about Smith", Elizabeth asked. "Major West did offer him a trip back to Earth in exchange for his help".

"This time I am actually going to take him back", Caldwell stated. "Since he did a fair job of altering all the Ancient components on that Jumper I am going to offer him a job working at the SCG. It is better that he is under our noses than giving his abilities to someone else."

"He's not a man you can trust", Elizabeth reminded Caldwell. "I am well aware of that Doctor Weir. He will be monitored. If he does try to sell us out, he will find himself facing a hell that is worse than his wildest nightmare", Caldwell swore.

"Returning to the topic to Major West. We should tell him that he just read an Ancient log. He does not like us hiding facts from him", Sheppard stated. "Alright Colonel, you tell him that, along with the fact that he is still under your command. We will keep monitoring him as well. I don't want any more surprises. However if he does turn out to be an Ancient it would be of great benefit", Caldwell noted.

"Yes I agree. But we have to let him see the benefit as well. He is already struggling with his abilities Colonel," Beckett reminded Caldwell. "Do what you have to Doctor", Caldwell stated.

"I'll take him fishing". John offered. He got a strange look from Caldwell. "He needs to feel that he belongs here Colonel or he may end up with an attitude like Cellin's", Sheppard remarked.

"Tell him I've changed my mind and regard him as a valuable member of the team", Caldwell admitted. "It will be the truth. He did just save us again. "Hopefully he won't get an attitude from hearing that."

Sheppard smiled ,"I'll tell him that Colonel and offer him my own support. I think it will make a difference to his attitude". John hoped so at least.

He admitted West still made him nervous. There was still a lot to find out about what the Major could do. It was bound to be dangerous. Oh well, that was just a normal days work in this galaxy.

THE END


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- point of origin part 1

Colonel Sheppard bit into a sandwich as he sat in the pilots chair of Jumper 11, they were cloaked and sitting motionless in an area of space that seemed devoid of life. There were no nearby planets or a space gate.

Beside him Tayla looked like she was sleeping. In the back Ronon sighed heavily, he was not used to just sitting still and waiting. "It looks like nothing is going to happen", Ronon stated for what was at least the 20th time. Sheppard's response to that was usually, "let's wait a little longer", however now he was just bored with this whole exercise. 'I think you are right Ronon, its time to return to Atlantis and tell Caldwell that there is nothing at these coordinates".

These were the coordinates Major West had gotten out of the Ancient ships Victory's log. Sheppard had volunteered to lead a mission to investigate. He had not taken Major Donald West, because he did not want to put the Major in possible danger without knowing more about what they faced. Now it seemed like the answer was nothing. But John suspected there was more going on here than was immediately obviious. The Ancient man Cellin, had taken over Atlantis with a force of bogus Ancients and demanded they hand West over. He was, according to them an ancient named Braxia who had been responsible for war crimes during the final battle between the wraith and the ancients. Cellin had disappeared through the stargate to an unknown destination.

Initially John had hoped that the coordinates led to Cellin's hiding place. But that theory had now been proved incorrect. Colonel Caldwell had a theory too, that the seizure of Atlantis had been a test of West's abilities. He had passed that test, which in Cladwells mind, made the theory he was an Ancient more plausible.

West vehemently denied being an Ancient. He felt uncomfortable with the abilities that made him able to sense wraith thoughts and only slightly more comfortable about the fact he could also influence ancient technology. There were still no clear answers available for West ,a fact he would find frustrating. He would prefer to return to Earth. But it was a possibility that was becoming increasingly less likely.

The Major would nervously be awaiting their report. Now this part of the mission was not a success they'd have to move to phase two, which was actually taking the Major with them in a Jumper to these coordinates. It was possible that it was his presence that would prompt a response, though Sheppard suspected that phase two would also fail. Most likely they needed the Major and the Ancient cruiser to make something happen. That was why McKay was trying to get the cruiser functional enough to ensure they'd be safe. Thinking through all of that had giving him a headache. John turned to the others ,"let's get back home", he told Teyla and Ronan as he powered up the jumpers engines.

Back in Atlantis, Major Donald West was walking the corridors of the ancient cruiser. He followed Doctor Rodney Mckay, a man who , was in his opinion, more annoying than Doctor Smith. McKay was brilliant, but also erratic and not great with people. He treated him like he was some lab rat he could prod, poke and jump through hoops. Even though he found it annoying Don was not complaining. That was because he was sure that eventually they would disprove the theory he was an Ancient. He had also decided that a change in attitude was necessary, it was time to stop being the abrasive pain in the ass and be a good soldier. During the take over of Atlantis his plan had caused his best friend, Evan Lorne to be severely beaten by the bogus Ancients. Don had apologised to his friend for that and Evan had reassured him, "Don, I don't blame you. All of this has been very challenging." Evan had reached out and given him a firm handshake. Don had found though that his friend acted subtly different around him. He had not challenged him about the change yet, he was just going to alter his own attitude first and see if that made a difference.

So instead of telling Caldwell to stuff his orders out of the nearest airlock Don was 'helping' Rodney McKay onboard the Ancient cruiser . Even though there were personal scattered around the ship, it still seemed eerily quiet. It was like death had left a permanent mark upon this ship. He had checked the ships logs, using his 'freaky' ability to read ancient, and tried discover the cause of the deaths of the ancient crew. There was nothing.

That was one of the answers Mckay was trying to find, as he worked on making the cruiser serviceable enough for them to use. Most of the systems of this ship had already been failing when Cellin brought it to Atlantis. If this ship had been in a car yard trying to be sold, Don would have described it as a lemon.

He shivered again, this ship seemed to be perpetually cold, despite all the machinery and people . He noticed that ahead of him Mckay also shivered. The doctor was jumpy and mumbled to himself constantly. "Do you feel anything ", McKay asked again as he lead the way past another row of Ancient consoles. He'd always given McKay the same answer to that question and now the scientist asked it like he was trying not to yell at him. Don was about to tell him 'no' again, when he felt warmth settle over him.

McKay, grumbled to himself as he stamped past the consoles. So far this had proved to be 'tiresome , instead of the amazing scientific discovery journey he had been expecting. West was absolutely no help at all, not one console had so far activated because of his presence. Even the idea that this man could be an Ancient was absolutely ludicrous in his mind. Yet West did possess some abilities he had no idea even existed. But finding answers about those abilities was frustratingly elusive. In his mind he was dissecting West and examining his brain. Of course talking to anyone about what he was thinking would just cause them to look at him in disgust. It was just scientific curiousity and nothing else. He became aware of the fact that West had not answered him yet. So he repeated the question louder just in case the major had not been listening.

Still no answer . It was time to release the yell, that he had restrained all afternoon. "Will you answer me", he snapped out loudly as he turned toward the young major. His voice choked off as he looked at Don's face. There was no expression there and his eyes were simply staring at nothing. When McKay waved his hands in front of them, he did not even blink. All thoughts of boredom faded , this had not happened before.

McKay pushed away the fear that had risen, Don phased out like that when he was sensing the wraith. Moving forward slowly, so as not to provoke a violent response, he reached out to touch the Major's skin. It was not icy like he'd expected, but warm. That meant he was not sensing the wraith. Rodney relaxed a little. He shook the hand he was touching slightly.

"What", Don suddenly became aware of the fact Rodney McKay was standing directly in front of him and touching him. "You did not respond when I asked you a question Major", Rodney explained. "It looked like your mind was elsewhere".

Don took a moment to look around him, to get his bearings, and remember he was on board the Ancient cruiser. Seconds ago though, he had been somewhere else, well not literally of course of else McKay would be doing more than staring at him. "I was, he admitted, "on this beautiful beach". He looked McKay in the eyes, "I was not woolgathering Doctor, because that beach was not one from either this planet or Earth, they don't have purple skies". Don pushed McKay's hand off his own and stepped around the Doctor boldly, he looked over the mass of Ancient consoles, "the one is active", he told McKay, pointing at a small octagon shaped console, "its where the illusion, or whatever I felt, came from".

Rodney, stepped forward and ran his scanner over the console. He looked at the results, "well this says that console is as dead as the others", he told West. Don ignored that and reached out his hand and touched the console.

McKay, watched as his scanner picked up the sudden burst in activity. He hurried to do an analysis on the console. Major West had that phased out look again and McKay swallowed, he was again seeing his mutant ancient gene in action".

Hurriedly Rodney scanned the console, trying to ascertain its purpose. There were waves of energy coming from the console ,they were fairly low in force and at the moment only directed toward Major West. The energy waves, had a pattern Rodney recognised, REM sleep, so perhaps what was being projected into Major West's mind was a dream.

So the console was effectively a dream machine. Maybe it was designed to relax the Ancients, who would have had a lot of complex thoughts running through their brains. "Okay Major ,you can stop interacting with it now", Rodney remarked loudly as he took West's hand off the console.

Don had been on the beach again, enjoying a short stroll across the dark brown sand. He felt a new vigour on his mind, like he'd been to sleep for many hours. "I think this replaces the need to sleep", he told Rodney. "That would certainly be useful in battle conditions, especially if you were fighting the wraith." With just a couple of seconds contact, you feel amazing", he smiled at Rodney.

"Well I don't think Beckett would approve of long term use without studying the effects. We have discovered some nasty side effects from some of the Ancient devices.", Rodney told him. He did n't think this particular console would be of use to them. Typical, they again made no progress, their were still no active weapons systems and the drive was barely functioning .

Rodney sucked in his frustration . He had to focus on what needed to be done and not hope for a shortcut, by using Major West's abilities. ""Okay, lets move on and forget about these Ancient consoles. I have to help work on the jump drive". John and the others are due back from Stage one very soon"

Don just nodded. Soon it would be time for him to get involved in the mission. "If you want a break, I'd get one now", Rodney told him as he grabbed a snack bar from his pocket and began to devour it quickly. That was another thing ,he'd discovered about McKay, he was always hungry. He'd had his break only one hour ago and was now eating again.

"I'm going to meet my wife at infirmary", Don told Rodney. Judy had actually fainted twice yesterday and Don had made her promise to go and see Beckett.

Without waiting for a response from McKay Don hurried out of the flight deck and along the cool corridors to the hangar bays. The ugly little jumper was waiting him there. He could fly them effortlessly, with just a touch of his mind. Yet he preferred to fly it manually, because he wanted to feel like it was him and not the alien machinery that had ultimate control. John Sheppard, had assured him that they did know what technology in the jumper could do. But he could never be sure what his mutant gene might awaken. He did not want to prove Colonel Sheppard wrong.

It was only a short flight back to the city .As soon as he was back in the corridors of Atlantis he felt warm again.

He hesitated at the doors to the infirmary ,trying to shake of all the memories of pain this place invoked. Finally he felt ready to boldly walk through the doors. He saw Judy lying on one of the beds and hurried her way. When he got close to her, he could clearly see tears running down her face. He felt a sudden lump in his throat, she looked like she'd had some distressing news.

Don stood at the side of her bed and picked up her hand. She would not even look at him, he noted. "What's wrong darling ", he asked shakily. Judy just sniffed loudly ,her eyes down toward the bed and not on him. Her hand was limp within his own and did not move when he stroked it gently. Looking around the infirmary Don saw Doctor Beckett, smiling broadly as he approached. That expression, was puzzling. "Hello laddie", Beckett greeted. "Doctor Beckett, Don replied . He frowned at the doctor. "What's wrong with my wife", he asked.

Beckett looked over at Judy West, who had a tear streaked face. It did look like she'd had some distressing news. Carson smile widened, this news was more surprising than distressing. "Congratulations Major ,you are going to be a father', he told Don. "What", Don thought he was not hearing correctly. He stared down at his wife, "I thought that was not a possibility, because of the birth control", he spluttered. Now Judy looked up at him and she did not have a smile upon her face, "so its my fault', she grumped, "I think it takes two Don."

Don stared Judy sounded angry, he knew they had not planned to have a child for a few years. He looked over at Beckett and demanded, "how did this happen Doctor, I thought those contraceptives were full proof". Now Carson could not help a little bit of teasing toward Major West, "I am sure you know how it happened Major", he said. "You are right though the contraceptive has never failed before. It is both an interesting medical and scientific puzzle. There is another first there for you and your wife Major".

Carson wondered if the pregnancy was yet another case of the Major's mutant gene causing something unusual to happen. He was not about to put the couple through extra stress by putting them through a barrage of tests to find out the answer. In fact it was better if he just gave them some privacy.

Don was still feeling rather stunned, when Judy sobbed again, he realised she was probably misinterpreting his silence. "Judy it is unexpected, but I am happy about being a dad". "I know this, he gestured around him, is not the place we wanted to raise children, but it is also not a terrible place". There are a lot of people here who will support us".

Judy stopped sobbing, she too had been feeling shocked. With Don caught up in the middle of the Lantean's war with the wraith, there was a lot of uncertainty. He was right though, Atlantis was not a terrible place. There also were many people who would offer to help them. She relaxed partially and squeezed Don's hand. Don moved to putting his arms around her tightly. She put her head on his shoulder. They held each other.

Carson did not disturb them. He knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the Major was called away ,so this time together was precious.

Indeed it was only 20 minutes later that John Sheppard brought Jumper 11 back into the bay. He met Colonel Caldwell and Elizabeth in the conference room a few minutes later. "Nothing happened, he told them. That region of space could be labelled boring ville". Colonel Caldwell had to restrain a sigh then, this type of debriefing was typical Sheppard. He forged ahead in his no nonsense voice, "so we proceed to stage 2 and take Major West with you to the same location", he stated

They had discussed this before, but it always paid to repeat things with Sheppard just to make sure he was going along with the plan. "Actually Sir", Sheppard began..."typical, though Caldwell, he is not going along with the plan, that is hardly unexpected. "Why don't we just jump ahead to stage 3 and take Major West and the Ancient cruiser. If something is going to happen at those coordinates it is likely the Major and the ship that will cause that reaction".

This was familiar territory too, Caldwell had dismissed this idea already. But this was another Sheppard trait, to push his luck. "We are being cautious Colonel Sheppard, with both of them, Caldwell reminded him. "As you know I am not sold on the idea of using the Ancient cruiser in this manner. We will need it for the war with the wraith".

"We also need allies Colonel, Elizabeth reminded him. She had felt like Caldwell was now giving her the cold shoulder ,as this was a military mission. He was like that. Elizabeth felt like she struggled to assert her opinion each time Caldwell came to Atlantis and was in charge of a mission.

"If you are thinking of Cellin Doctor Weir, he has shown that he is not willing to help us", Caldwell reminded her. "There could be other Ancients , ones who would be willing to share their knowledge. We still don't know what half of the technology within Atlantis does Colonel. For all we know there could be something here that will help us in our fight", Elizabeth spoke passionately .

She was right about allies ,the wraith had an extraordinary amount of numbers on their side, as well as being very hard to kill. The wraith could discover their location at any time and bring a massive force down upon them. He imagined it would be like the last battle between the Ancients and the wraith. Only they would not have all the fire power that the Ancients possessed at that time. If there were more Ancients out there to help with this fight, then they needed them on their side. He followed that thought along. Surely if it came to a choice between siding with lesser beings , like humans or letting the galaxy be overrun by wraith, Ancients would chose humans. They could not all have the attitude of Cellin.

Caldwell gritted his teeth. He could see them looking at him expectantly. "Alright then, lets skip ahead, to stage three" , he decided. Sheppard, he noted stood up immediately ,he had been waiting for this response, instinctively knowing they had few choices.

"I will inform Major West about the change. We will be ready to leave shortly", Sheppard told Caldwell.

He hurried down the corridors to the Jumper bay, so he could fly up to the Ancient cruiser. Ronan and Teyla would also be coming along for the mission. They were awaiting him at the jumper bay. Donald West was standing at their side .His eyes looked a little red, like he'd be rubbing them . Sheppard regarded him seriously, "are you alright', he asked.

Don was not ready to share his most recent news with Sheppard yet. Apart from Beckett there was only one other person he'd told. Before leaving the infirmary, he'd gone to visit Evan. He was almost ready to be discharged and looked bored as he lay on the bed. When Don stood by his side, his eyes shifted from the ceiling to his eyes. Evan noting the tears asked the same question as Sheppard. He looked concerned. "I am going to be a father", Don told him. It is unexpected news Evan, and not great timing considering I am about to leave on a mission." Don took a breath, Evan was still looking at him. "I want to ask you to look after Judy while I am gone and, Don stuttered his voice suddenly dry, "after that if I don't come back", he added. Evan immediately grabbed his hand, he did not try to make Don take back those words or tell him there was nothing to worry about, that would not be truthful. All he could do was say, "of course I will Don. ".

"I really value our friendship Evan ", Don told him earnestly. Then he departed leaving Evan staring after him.

"I am ready to begin the mission sir", was all he said to Sheppard. The Colonel studied him, then asked, "difficult farewell Major". Don nodded at that. Sheppard looked pensive, "having family here has its issues Major. " Let's gets this mission underway so you can get home to your wife again".

Don actually surprised himself by smiling at that, Sheppard was not a defeatist, he had pulled off missions that many would say were doomed to fail. He was in the best of hands.

They flew back to the cruiser and were met by an anxious McKay. "I thought we'd have more time", McKay stated as soon as he saw them. "You did say that the ship is functional enough for this journey', Sheppard reminded him. "It is functioning, but barely. All the work I have been doing has not improved this ships state. I cannot guarantee that the engines won't give out at some point', McKay said."We can also not rely upon the hyperdrive, it remains non functional and we do not have the parts necessary to make repairs. This ship is in a sorry state Colonel".

"I am sure you can find a way to manage any crisis we encounter", Sheppard said calmly. He was again relying on McKay's expertise . McKay puffed up a little then, compliments always helped motivate him and Sheppard knew this.

They strolled up to the bridge. Teyla and Ronan were quiet ,awed by the mass of technology around them. This was an impressive ship. In its prime it would have made the wraith shiver in fear. Now they just might scan it and laugh heartily. It was a sorry shadow of its former self. Previously the Daedulus, would have looked like a old jalopy next to a sleek racing car, now their ship was the more powerful of the two.

The Daedulus would be shadowing them and making sure they were not flying into a trap. It might have to defend them if that happened.

"Major", Sheppard pointed toward the Captain's seat. He was trying for an advantage they had, and letting Major West captain this ship, was one of those. He could have his own turn later. Admittedly though, something inside of him hesitated at that thought. This ship was one stained by death and that was never a good omen.

Don settled down in the seat. "Proceed to the coordinates", he ordered.

Rodney activated the drive and the mighty ship began its journey. It took merely seconds to arrive at the coordinates. Don wiggled nervously in the Captain's chair, awaiting the moment something would happen .

He was still waiting hours later. "So maybe they were just random coordinates, meant to waste our time ", Ronan remarked.

"Perhaps, though I really don't see the point in that", Sheppard mused. "We have to wait a little longer before declaring this mission a failure. He looked over at Don, "why don't you get some rest now Major". I will have a shift in the Captain's chair'.

Don slid out of the chair. He headed down the corridor toward the crew accommodation. They had found skeletons in many of these rooms, so they did not appeal that much as places to rest. One though had been empty and Don made his way to that room. The bed now had new linen upon it and when he sat down, it felt comfortable. Not bothering to change out of his uniform , Don placed his legs up on the bed . He intended just to rest.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he found himself back on the alien beach, walking upon the sand. He must be dreaming. Moving down to the water's edge he dipped his feet into the water. Cold assailed him, as the water sunk into his shoes and onto the bottom of his trousers. It felt so real.

He splashed for awhile, enjoying the quiet solitude of the beach. After awhile he became conscious of the fact, he could hear more than just the waves. Sea birds circled around him, screeching loudly. They were an alien type of bird, larger than most of those on earth. One of them landed before him, and stretched out its head, beak forward and open in a challenging manner. Suddenly this beach did not feel so peaceful. The other birds were landing now and encircled him.

It was time to wake up from what was now turning into a nightmare. Don tried to force himself awake, but it did not work.

The birds were coming closer . He held out his hands palm upward, "shoo, go away", he told them. They flapped their wings, but did not retreat. One reached out its beak and pecked his hand hard. Don felt pain blossom. He pulled his hand away and looked down to see blood dripping from his palm. It looked very real. He knew this was the point when you would awaken from many nightmares. But he still did not.

The bird shot out a large tongue and licked his blood from its beak. If they were carnivorous then he was in serious danger, they could rip him apart in seconds. The one who had pecked him let out a loud screech, that made him cover his ears.

As the bird screeched the sand rose up in a swirling maelstrom . Don backed away slowly, keeping his eyes upon the birds. They seemed passive now, just watching him. The sand maelstrom picked up in intensity, then suddenly died away to reveal four people. They stared at him, "hello Braxia", they greeted.

"No, that's not my name", Don protested quickly. The were all dressed in white, and looked like angels come to claim him . One woman stepped forward , toward him, "it may not be the name you bare now, but it is the one you were born with". She held out her hand, "come home now Braxia".

"No, I won't Don", yelled. He tried once more to force his mind awake . Perhaps it had not worked before because he was panicking .This time he went slowly picturing the image of the Ancient cruiser in him mind.

John Sheppard jumper when all the consoles on the bridge suddenly lit up. "Umm Rodney, what's going on", he asked. "They were all dead Colonel", Rodney protested. "Yeah, well now they are not", Sheppard mumbled. Rodney checked the readings and swallowed, "these ones are the not only consoles that now bare active signatures. The whole damn ship, is alive with signatures. I am afraid the largest one comes from the hyper drive".

"You said it would never function ", Sheppard accused. "Maybe never was an exaggeration ", Rodney told him ."It has definitely powered up and if I am not mistaken, is about to take us somewhere".

Sheppard, pressed the button in front of him in response to that, "Major West, the ship's hyperdrive is active, can you get it to turn itself off. We are about to be flung goodness knows where.".

Silence was all he got.

Rodney do something", Sheppard begged. Rodney raced to the door intending on running all the way to the engine room. Unfortunately the drive activated before he could even open the door.

"I am not Braxia and I am not going anywhere ", Don told the group of four people. "We wondered if we would get this response ,you have forgotten much. But not to worry, we will help you remember. We now have control of the cruiser. You will be home soon".


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- Point of origin part 2

Evan Lorne, had only just been released from infirmary and had been told firmly from Doctor Beckett to 'take it easy'. That meant light duties for a few days and no trips through the stargate. He had intended to do everything Beckett had asked of him, he was not like Sheppard, who would undertake a mission half alive. That intention had now faded into shadow and he was running fast down the corridors of Atlantis toward Elizabeth's office. Something had gone wrong with Colonel Sheppard's mission as the Daedulus was now back in orbit . Colonel Caldwell had looked grave as he requested an emergency meeting.

Puffing as he ran into Elizabeth office Evan immediately stood to attention as Caldwell entered. "What has happened Colonel", Elizabeth demanded. "The hyperdrive on the Cruiser suddenly became active and the ship shot off. As you know our ships are not capable of the same sorts of speed, so it was not possible to follow the Victory. Nor can we track her location as she travels through hyperspace. Unless she returns, or the others contact us somehow, we have no idea where that ship is going." Caldwell, broke off aware that his voice was angry.

"So Mckay was actually wrong", Evan said the word with awe,"wrong' was something that was rarely said about the theories Rodney proposed. "The drive was capable of being activated". "Yes ,it seems like he was wrong", Elizabeth swallowed, "maybe the drive activation, was the 'thing' that was supposed to happen at those coordinates, it was one theory we did not factor into our thoughts .

"So where is it going and why", Evan demanded. Caldwell just shrugged, "as I said we have no way of knowing the answer to that. But we should prepare for any possibility and that includes the location of this base being compromsied". He studied Evan seriously, "we have just lost two people who possessed the most powerful Ancient genes. So it may be Major ,that we now have to rely on your own abilities. You are also in temporary command of Atlantis. So let's start making a plan,of what needs to be done in the event an attack of some sort does occur". Caldwell knew that had to plan for a worst case scenerio. Evan had to swallow down a burst of sorrow. He was going to have to talk to Judy West and explain that her husband had just gone missing. She was not likely to take that information well. He thought about what, Caldwell had said about powerful abilities, "so perhaps the mission was a type of trap then. Cellin would have guessed that we'd sent Major West, and that we'd also need to send others with the Ancient gene. They have at least divided our forces ."

Elizabeth, thumped her table hard, they had been caught off guard again, "it is probable you are right, Major Lorne, divide and conquer, is a familiar tactic and one we should have considered more seriously. But whoever planned this is clever, even more so than Mckay and that seems to point clearly to a particular race".We have never considered them to be an enemy before and perhaps that is why were were caught out by these actions. "The Ancients", Caldwell muttered. He looked over at Evan, "it becomes increasingly more likely that Major West is not who he seems"."The Ancients have no reason to play games like this with us."

Evan felt himself colour and actually snapped out, "I don't think Don is a liar". Caldwell's mouth actually dropped open a little, he was not used to back chat from Lorne. "Watch your attitude Major", he warned. "I am not proposing a new theory here. There have been questions about Major West since we discovered what he could do". Surely there must be some doubt in your mind". Is he the real friend I remember from training or are those just stolen memories. You know it could be possible, we have certainly encountered stranger things in this galaxy".

"Shut up", Evan, blurted out the comment before he could stop himself. He saw Caldwell colour. The Colonel had hit a nerve, he knew. That doubt had crept into his mind. There were some subtle differences between Don as he was now and how he remembered him, before he went missing on the Jupiter 2. Had something more happened, on that ship, did the original Donald West somehow get replaced. It was the darkest thought of his mind, something he would not let himself accept. Yet now Caldwell was saying the same thing.

Elizabeth was staring as well. It was highly unusual for Evan to speak to a commanding officer that way. She recognised the emotion boiling under the surface. It would not be there if he did not have some doubt. She felt for Lorne, he was about to get a tongue lashing from a very annoyed superior officer.

"Major that is totally uncalled for, I will be taking disciplinary action for your subordinate attitude", Caldwell snapped out. Elizabeth did not try to dissuade Colonel Caldwell because she knew he thought that emotions had no place in military thinking. That Evan was upset, would not be an excuse. Sheppard would have been annoyed if the same thing had been said to him, but he would have understood the pain behind the words, and would have let it slide.

"For now can we just concentrate on what needs to be done", Elizabeth requested. That brought Caldwells attention back to her, "very well Doctor Weir, lets start our plan. Major Lorne's punishment can wait, but it will come",Caldwell added sourly in case there was any doubt.

Evan just threw him a salute and tried to pull his mind back to the duty that lay ahead of him. He could feel himself shaking, as held onto the emotion that threatened to spill out and make him scream loudly. Caldwell had not laid the blame for the disappearance of the Victory upon Don, but he knew that it was highly likely that he was in some way responsible. It seemed that Don had just proved that he actually was an Ancient. How could he be friends with an Ancient. The answer to that was that he could not be. Ancients did not want to be friends with humble humans. Their purpose in the galaxy was beyond friendship. Evan felt this shaking increase, he was going to have to tell Judy Robinson what they thought. She would not want to believe it either. They both would have to accept it though.

xxxxxxx

Ancient Cruiser Victory- 5 minutes since jump drive engaged.

"Do something", Sheppard asked Rodney McKay. Mckay swore at the door which was blocking his exit from the bridge, it stubbornly was staying shut. "That's not going to help", Sheppard complained. Ronan kicked the door. "That won't help either",Sheppard told him. "Major West", Teyla yelled through the intercom, 'get up here now mister", she tried language she was sure Sheppard would use. There was still no response. "Did he do this ", Teyla asked Mckay, as she swept her arms across the bridge, indicating the now activate consoles. "Possibly ", McKay remarked.

"I thought it was not possible, to power all of this", Sheppard remarked. The ship had been barely capable of making it to the coordinates with the amount of power it had left. To activate the hyper drive required something extraordinary. It must have been something that Rodney had not expected, or else he would have warned them. That he was fallible like this was sometimes a cold splash of water in the face. He may have not anticipated this, but he better be able to get them out of this hole ,Sheppard thought to himself.

Rodney was carefully scanning all the consoles, hoping desperately that he would find the answers . He had so far been, what was that word again, the one that started with w, and ended in g. It was not one he ever said to himself. Thankfully he would not have to say it out loud . He could at least tell them where the power had come from. He studied his readouts, how was this even possible. What was happening here was incredible, another thing to put in the book of " I would never believe that could be possible. Colonel Sheppard was now tapping his foot with impatience so Rodney began his explanation ."Alright, it seems like all of the consoles are somehow slaved to the hyperdrive, therefore it is using all their stored power to activate itself".They are kind of like a battery". It's incredible that all these consoles have the type of power needed to operate the Hyperdrive."

"Okay so if we turn these off then the ship will stop", Sheppard thought it sounded very simple. Maybe too simple."We had better do that now, before we end up at the far end of the galaxy with no way of getting home again".

Mckay thought that was a good plan. But he also knew that they had to be cautious, the cruiser was not in a good state and messing with too many things might provoke an unexpected reaction. He was primarily thinking of the all the dead people that had littered this ship, when it came to Atlantis. There had to be a reason they all died. He did not want to find out what that reason was.

"I will try one of these non essential consoles first, just to see what happens to the hyperdrive", Rodney explained. He chose a small console, for no other reason than it looked boring. He did not want to admit that he had no idea what half the consoles on this bridge were for. He pulled all the wiring out of the console and watched as it went dark. Then he took scans again. "Uh oh", was his very unscientific comment. Things were not as easy as they seemed, typically.

"What do you mean uh oh", Sheppard demanded. "I mean that all the consoles are actually slaved to one other system, before their power is routed to the Hyperdrive. Turning them all off will cause that system to shut down completely, Rodney explained. "I am guessing it is an essential system", Sheppard remarked . "Yeah if we want to keep living, they are slaved to the life support. "

"We could use the statis pods that Cellin mentioned, Sheppard suggested. "Yeah well all of them are offline. It looks like it is not that simple Colonel. Whoever thought this up is brilliant ", Mckay stated.

"Well that points to one main candidate and that is the Ancients", Teyla observed. "Yeah, well if this can kill us ,then that is not very friendly", Ronan grumbled. "Why would they do that".

"Because they want Braxia to come home", the voice was kind of strangled.

Sheppard and the others pivoted around abruptly toward Major Donald West. Rodney lunged for the door ,which was now open. In less than the time it took to move one step, it was firmly closed again. Rodney swore loudly.

Donald West looked rather pale with disheveled hair and clothing. Sheppard did not yell at him for being absent when they needed him. It was obvious something was wrong. So he asked in a steady tone , "report".

Don thought through the easiest way to explain what he had experienced. "As soon as I lay on the bed and shut my eyes, I found myself on this beautiful beach". Rodney raised one eyebrow, "just like before. He looked over at the 'dream console'. It ,just like the others were active.

"At first it was like the before, then the beach began to fill with life, like aggressive birds. I tried to pull my mind away, but found I could not. One of the birds attacked me, then drunk my blood. Even the pain did not pull me away from that nightmare. Then 4 people appeared and they wore all white, I think they were Ancients. They called me Braxia and told me I was coming home. After that I felt this ship come alive. I tried everything to stop what was happening but it was ineffective. Those other Ancients must have a way of being in control of the Cruiser, "Don wound off, satisfied that he had covered all the essential points.

"Dreams cannot control anything", Rodney said bluntly. "Therefore there must be a way of stopping what was happening".

Don gave him a look that could only be described as 'pissed off". "I am not making things up Doctor McKay."The first time, it definitely did seem like a dream. This time though it felt real. I could feel the coldness of the water and ", Don simply opened his hand to push his next point home, "feel pain. "As I said a bird attacked me". His palm was now dripping blood over the floor of the cruiser.

Rodney was staring at that blood in mute shock. "So you really have nothing to say now Doctor", Don challenged.

Sheppard moved forward and took Major West's hand in his own. There was a jagged bleeding cut of several inches in depth upon his palm. It looked angry and painful. "We'll put a dressing upon this Major", he said gently.

Don looked out at the streaks of light surrounding them. "I am guessing this ship is taking us to a world with a purple sky and a rather nice beach". However that is all I know. I was not told the name of the planet or of the people".

"They called you Braxia", Rodney observed. "Yes", Don admitted it reluctantly. "Was that before or after the bird drunk your blood", Rodney asked. "After", Don told him. "Then it is probable they were testing your blood Major". He kept staring at him.

"Say it McKay", Don demanded grumpily, "say I am an Ancient. He let his eyes linger on McKay's face. "They said I had forgotten ".

Mckay wisely chose to say nothing. He could tell West was upset and he really did not want the Major to decide to hit him.

"At the moment that is not the most important question, Sheppard said calmly. "It is are actually going to make it to this world. If those consoles are acting like batteries then they must have a life expectancy. Sooner or later ,they will be drained dry and both the hyperdrive and Life support will fail." He took a breath and said the next bit, "maybe that has happened before".

"It is a death ship", Ronan grumbled. He did not know how to fight a ship. People were easy, you just hit them hard and watch them go down.

"Yeah, well we should have thought of the possibility that this ship was the actual trap we were expecting. Sending rather impressive gifts with significant catches has been done throughout history", Sheppard reminded them. "The Trojan horse", Don muttered.

Teyla frowned at that, she had no idea why they were referring to a horse, but she knew a trap when she encountered one.

"So what do we do",she asked. Her eyes settled upon McKay. "Yet another certain death moment to get us out of in one piece, McKay muttered. "I am becoming a specialist at those".

He tapped his fingers lightly on the nearest console. "No matter what you say Major West, I doubt Ancients from a distant planet can control this vessel. Most likely this is just a triggered response. That makes it easier to deal with'. His eyes swept past all the active consoles before settling upon a specific one. "You may have given us a significant clue. If the 'dream machine was the trigger, then turning it off, may actually get us out of this mess".

He moved toward the dream console only to find Colonel Sheppard standing in his way. "Rodney if you are wrong then turning off that machine may injure or even kill Major West." Typically Sheppard was throwing emotion into the mix. Caldwell would have just told him to do it and stuff the consequences."I don't think they'd kill they person they want to meet", Rodney stated firmly. "But I will be careful. He moved forward to the console and opened a panel on the side. He could see very complex fibres through out this machine. Rodney ran his scanner over those words searching for the ones ,he could cut. He swallowed at the readout, this console now had an immense power signature. It was kind of like a fuse, if he turned it off the other systems would all overload immediately and most likely blow a hole in the side of the bridge.

He backed away, "turning that console off would trigger an overload', he stated. "We'd be dead in minutes". Teyla sighed heavily, "it seems like each plan ends up in death McKay". There has to be one that does not". Ronon took a step toward McKay and folded his arms. He looked rather intimidating, "find a way McKay", he grumbled.

McKay could feel the pressure. He knew exactly how to get rid of some of what lay upon his shoulders. "If the ship wants West, then he is the key to stopping what is happening."

Don hated the fact that he was most likely correct about that. He could feel the ship in his mind, like a living person. "As I said I have tried to stop what is happening. I will try again. He gestured toward the Captains chair, "can I take command now Colonel", he asked.

Sheppard, put his own hand outward toward the central chair, "command is yours Major". Do what you can".

Don sat in the central chair. He leaned forward and touched the button on one of the consoles in front of him. McKay gave a slightly strangled gasp, "don't fiddle with it Major unless you know what you are doing". Don threw him a scowl ,"it is still a ship McKay and I actually do know quite a few things about ships."I am just seeing how much manual control we have." Don't forget I can read Ancient . Unfortunately we cannot gain manual control as it is locked out. That was on purpose. So it must be time for the direct approach . I will try and contact these Ancients again".

He closed his eyes and pictured the beach in his mind. Nothing happened, not willing to admit defeat, he sent a subconscious message, "the ship is failing, we may die before we reach you". Still nothing . He finally opened his eyes.

The others were all looking at him so he just shrugged. McKay began to pace and start talking scientific gibberish.

"He does that a lot, Sheppard remarked, ""soon he will come out with a wild theory . So they had to wait. That was the easy part. He settled into the chair. A few minutes later, he felt a brief sharp pain shoot through his head, he winced and rubbed his hand over his face. Something had changed. "Did you feel that", he asked Sheppard.

John knew what he meant. He too could feel life in the Victory. It was definitely creepy. Now part of that life was gone. He looked over at the consoles and noticed one had gone dark. 'I think the consoles are failing one by one".

McKay stopped his gibberish , "yes but that dream console is not going to be one of them for a long time." That means something. Before you were probably tired Major and entered a REM state quickly. Now you are trying to force yourself into that state without effect. It is not that easy just to fall asleep if you are not tired. I don't think we can afford to wait until you become tired again. We need to force your mind into a REM state. Unfortunately we are going to have to resort to drugs for that". McKay walked over to kick the bridge door. "We cannot access sick bay so will have to rely on what we can find in the first aid boxes on this bridge".

He opened the nearest one and searched through what was available. Since Doctor McKay was not a medical specialist Don began to feel very nervous. Beckett was not available to help him out this time. "How about just a sedative "McKay suggested. Those had been used on Major West before.

"Yes, I think we could try that", Sheppard agreed.

Teyla took a syringe out of the first aid box to draw up the sedation with.

Don looked around his chair. "For an intelligent race, the Ancients were rather uninventive with command chairs. It does not even have the ability to recline".

McKay found himself laughing at that. Major West was loosening up a little and that was a good thing. He had not challenged them over the use of the sedative either. Though if McKay looked closely at his face, he could see the worry lines.

"I'll inject you now Major", Teyla remarked. She'd seen Beckett do this often enough to know what spot she needed to hit.

Don felt the sedation his his system not long after the jab. All his limbs felt very heavy.

John watched as his eyes slid shut and his body slumped in the chair. "So do we just wait around now", he asked.

"No, I think we need a contingency plan, just in case West fails to gain control", McKay stated. "It will probably be one of those plans that gives us a very short period of time before something dire happens", he warned.

"Yeah, I think we are getting used to those", John replied.

Don found himself back on the sandy beach. He looked up at the sky, just to reassure himself he was on the right world. Check, purple sky. Everything else was as it was the very first time, he'd been here, there were no signs of life.

He looked across the beach, it did seem to end. So perhaps he could just take a walk and find someone. He set off across the sand.

It was a pleasant walk, and not a long one either. Soon he reached the edge of the beach. Now he could see trees and beyond something was glistening in the sun. He stepped off the sand and into the vegetation.

Within a few minutes he had found where the glistening was coming from. He just stared in awe. It was an alien city and almost identical to Atlantis . Except it would dwarf their own city.

As he got closer he could see another major difference, the city was filled with people, a brief count numbered in the high hundreds, and that was just the people he could see from this distance. Don kept moving until he was just a few hundred metres from the boundary to the City. The people had not noticed him yet, just moving rapidly through the city.

There was chance that the people were hostile and would react violently to him just walking into their city. So he raised his hands high above his head as he stepped onto one of the major pathways.

Suddenly all those who had been moving stopped. He found himself the centre of attention and it was very unnerving. "Umm hello, I am...he began. " Before he could finish his introduction a man grabbed him. "This is not possible", that man muttered as he stared at him. Don could feel the fingers digging into his skin. "Let go of me now", he demanded firmly.

He was surprised that the man did exactly that. The other people were still staring at him. It was a stared that spoke of shock . "Move out of the way", a loud voice insisted. The crowd began to part and Don could just make out a tall figure coming toward him. As that figure got closer he could feel himself go pale. 'The man looked almost identical to him.

"Well, well, you are more inventive than I thought. Welcome Major Donald West", the man greeted. Don gaped, how did this man know who he was. He felt himself shiver as he examined every inch of the man and compared similarities. This man could easily pass as his double. "Who are you", Don asked breathlessly. "Isn't that obvious Major, I am Braxia. Thank you for walking so easily into my trap.'This city may look beautiful, but it is a prison'. You have just provided me with the key".

Suddenly Don knew he had been right before, this man was the real Braxia and he was looking for someone to take his place . Don tried to force himself awake but found he could not. "It's not that easy to escape this type of prison Major West. But I found a way. You will be imprisoned here and my life will go on. I will rewrite history. The war with the wraith is not over yet. "


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- man in the mirror

The easiest thing to do in this situation was to run away, even though that was not a familiar strategy, he realised could not fight hundreds of people. Don turned from the man that looked like him and quickly sped off. He wondered why all he heard was laughter as he ran back toward the beach. When he simply hit something solid full on and fell to the ground panting hard, he knew why they laughed, there was some sort of invisible shield in his way. That should not happen in a dream. He knew his body was on board the Victory so it was just mind that was trapped here and conjuring up all these problems. The problem was that it all felt real, especially the pain. So something was holding him here and making this more like a living nightmare.

Braxia, came to stand over him, "anyone can get into this prison West, but getting out is a lot more difficult". He reached down and fixed his hands tightly around Don's arms. Pain blossomed all over his body as he was hauled upward.

Braxia kept a firm grip upon his arm, holding him steady. Don once again tried to force himself awake. He could see the amusement on Braxia's face as he fought with his own mind, "this is not real, wake up, wake up". Once gain he failed. He wondered if that was to do with the 'dream console'. As its power was now being boosted by all those other consoles it was a lot harder to wrench himself free.

So now he had few choices, he had no idea what would eventually happen to his body if he did not waken. The others would try and force him awake, but with only the limited supplies of a few first aid boxes , their chances were not high. "Alright you have me", he reluctantly admitted to Braxia.

"Indeed", Braxia agreed. 'Here finally is our deliverance".

Don squirmed in Braxia's hold as the other people came closer. Soon they surrounded him and he felt claustrophobic . "At least I am not Braxia", Don said boldly. Braxia, laughed heartily, "no, you are just a pale shadow of me , a one in a trillion chance, a mistake really, but even those have their uses". Don struggled hard in Braxia's grip then, he really wanted to land his fist in this cocky man's face. His struggles achieved nothing.

Finally he was exhausted , with his side aching intensely. "All right just get it over with", he said. Braxia laughed again, "that would be too easy. I like things drawn out, and painful, trust me when I say it will be painful".

Don felt coldness all over his body as he looked at Braxia's face, the man was gloating over him like a cat with a tiny mouse. Just like the cat, Braxia was going to play games with him and watch him suffer. "Why are you doing this', he challenged boldly.

"Ah the question of the moment , I suppose I can indulge you, Braxia stated. "You may have studied the history of our race. We thought we were so powerful and nothing could defeat us." Don gave him a withering stare, "you still do", he said sarcastically. Braxia laughed at that, "I like you West", he said. "Yet you want to cause me pain", Don threw back. "It is just necessity West. You will understand if you listen to the story."Don just shrugged.

"Anyway, we met the wraith and a terrible war began. There came a time when we, a mighty race realised we were losing. Every strategy we tried did not gain us any ground. It was time for something different. So that was when I started to experiment with manipulation of the ATA gene. Our abilities already gave us an advantage , but even that was not enough. We needed to be more powerful, to reflect some of what the wraith was doing to others back upon them. In time I was successful and became the first ancient to be able to stop the wraith feeding upon others just by using my mind." This was the weapon we needed and thus I endeavoured to produce an army of others possessing my abilities."

Braxia stopped, he looked down at his feet. There was now heavy sorrow upon his face. It was the first emotion that did not make him seem cold and calculating. "I found it only worked on a handful of people", he said. "Not enough for my army". So I had to think of a new strategy." Now I have one and I want to return to wipe out the wraith".

Don frowned, this story was not complete, why did Braxia need him, why was there a force field around this city. "That is only part of the story. We met a man called Cellin and he called you a war criminal". There has to be a reason for that", he challenged.

Braxia shrugged, "ah yes, him, he was one who did not approve of my methods. Unfortunately in every experiment ,there are some mistakes. While the mutation of the ATA gene worked upon a select few, it also killed others. So I got told to stop those experiments. I did not agree with that". So that forced the others into trying to stop me. I was warned by my allies that a force was coming to arrest me. So I escaped through the stargate to Earth. There I decided to see if any of my descendants developed my abilities naturally. It is repulsive to mate with a lower species, but I would try anything to bring victory to my battle with the wraith. I had been on Earth a few years before the other Ancients finally caught up with me. They sent me to this prison world. Eventually I made them pay for that mistake".Perhaps you have seen their bodies, on the Victory. That is what happens to those who oppose me."

The cold shiver was back. Braxia sounded a little like Mckay, but without any ethics or compassion. He thought he understood what the man wanted with him and tried out the theory. "So you want to get out of here to continue your experiments, to manufacture the army you could not have. You want to this while pretending to be me"."Well, the truth is yes, my people would welcome another weapon to rid themselves of the wraith. But if those killing side effects are still there, then you will again have to cease all experimentation. Trust the fact, they would probably kill you dead if you disobeyed an order like that. My people don't like me that much", Don told him truthfully.

Braxia, just shrugged at that, looking unafraid. "I like your bluntness West. However, I have already anticipated a response like that. My days of experimenting with the ATA gene are over. " I have a new plan now and it will work". Braxia reached out to run one finger down his cheek, I want a second chance . Unfortunately those do not come along ,every day and I have had to wait a very long time for this one."

"So McKay was actually right, I am just a descendent of someone with the mutation. It is a relief to not be an Ancient, because I would probably be an arrogant shit like you. This is rather an elaborate plan. You could have just reached out to my friends, and offered help. If you have to be sneaky, then there is a whole lot more that you are not telling me. I don't trust you. The fact you are in a prison is rather damning .What is this new plan of yours". Don had a feeling it was not a pleasant plan.

"You are insightful Donald West. Alright, I will tell you all. The wraith have a weakness, they need to feed. What if they could find nothing to feed upon", Braxia challenged. Don shook his head, "the Pegasus galaxy is well populated , he took a breath as he thought of Earth, Braxia was aware of its existence and location, "as are other places", he concluded.

Exactly, 'thats where my plan comes in Major West. I am going to wipe out all the food in the galaxies with a little method I have perfected. Then all the wraith will have is each other. So they will rip each other apart. Of course they are a robust species, so it will take time. We have that. My people here will sit on this isolated planet and wait. We will emerge when victory is near. It will be our duty to eliminate the final wraith. To kill them while they lay starving and weak. They will see us as their next meal yet when they try to feed upon us we will repell them".Once all the wraith are dead, my super race of Ancients will be the only ones left in the galaxy. This is how it is meant to be" ,Braxia concluded proudly.

Don felt horror fill him, this man was totally crazy. Yet ,he was also dangerous and clever. His plan would work .

"You can't kill billions of people", he choked out. Looking over at the crowd of people, he challenged, 'surely you cannot condone this. "

Braxia laughed a little, 'they are on my side Major. Don't worry we have found a painless way to eliminate all other life".

Don did try and hit him then. But he was grabbed firmly by the mass of people. "Go and show him one of the many cells in the city", Braxia told one large man. "I will let him suffer a little before I begin my process".

The large man had a grip that was like a vice. He just wrenched his arms behind his back and then dragged him along, toward the city.

At least he was away from Braxia Don thought. As he was jostled along he tried to think of a plan. If Braxia had fought in the last war with the Ancients, then he was very, very old. How could he have survived all this time. Something was off about this whole place.

He took a look around him , taking in as much information as he could. It was habit more than anything because he felt powerless. The 'process' Braxia talked about was obviously the taking over of his body. If that was necessary then perhaps Braxia's own body was disabled or ill. Don wondered how they transfer would work and why it had not happened yet. Braxia did not have to play games, he could simply take over at any time.

Or could he. There had to be a reason why the Victory was on route to the planet. Perhaps the take over could not occur until the ship reached the very real world. That gave him an unknown deadline. He had to think of a way of letting the others know that Braxia was not him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rodney McKay, stepped back as he hit Don West's quiet, pale face with a hard slap. If the Major was even remotely conscious, he would ever get sworn at, or slapped back. Nothing happened. They had already tried a stimulant , it too had failed to rouse the major.

John Sheppard prowled the bridge of the Victory, keeping his eye on the failing consoles. In the last thirty minutes two more had gone dark. "How much longer do we have McKay", he asked soberly. McKay had already began calculations. Now that more than one console had failed he could estimate how long the others would last. "With this rate, probably no more than 12 hours", he said.

"Great", Sheppard muttered. "If we could drop the ship out of hyperspace even for an few minutes we would have an opportunity to get to the jumper and get off this ship. With a little distance between us and this vessel West may regain consciousness. Then we could find the nearest planet with a stargate and get out of here", Rodney proposed.

"How many minutes would we have before the ship exploded", Teyla asked. "Not that long", Rodney replied, "in fact probably not long enough".

"Um guys", Ronan interjected. He was ignored. "Well you have to find a way to give us longer", Sheppard stated. "Come on McKay you can't let this beat you." John folded his arms over and gave McKay his best ' get on with it' stare. It usually worked well.

"Guys", Ronan shouted the words so loud it made them all jump. "What", Sheppard swung around quickly intending on berating the tall runner. He stopped though, when Ronan just pointed out of the large view screens. "We are not in hyperspace any longer".

Now a large beautiful world had taken the place of the blurred stars.

"Okay, this is the world West was talking about", Sheppard stated. "Yes, Rodney agreed, but my plan with the jumper still has its merits", he would rather be heading home, than to a world were people were smarter than he was.

Sheppard looked at the readouts, "the landing bays are locked out McKay" . In fact the only doors open are those leading to the way out. This is all by design remember. So now we are at the next phase.I would say the Victory is planning on landing."

McKay found the nearest seat and sat himself down as the ship did exactly what John Sheppard had suggested. It was a bumpy descent and Rodney found himself gripping his seat hard as he listened to the straining of the engines. He noted the fact that the consoles powering the hyper drive were still active. One more lost power on the descent. He hurriedly went through a series of complex calculations in his head and determined this ship was unlikely to make it back to Atlantis. Yet one more problem to think about.

They landed soon a massive, flat smooth area, near a massive city that looked very familiar. "It's Atlantis", Teyla marvelled as she stared at the familiar spires. "Kind of, Ronan agreed, 'yet larger and...he paused, this was an unfamiliar thing for him to say, "darker".

Indeed there was an absence of the brightness that filled Atlantis. "Who turned out the lights", Sheppard quipped. He looked over at the other three, hardly an adequate team for a mission to an alien city. But he had to take what he could get. "Alright gear up, we are going exploring". Teyla looked over at the still Major West. "What about him", she asked.

"I think it is safe enough to leave him here for now. Perhaps if we meet up with these other Ancients they can help us with the Major", Sheppard suggested. Teyla nodded at that. Since none of them really knew how to bring the Major back to consciousness, Sheppard's plan was possibly the only one with merit.

John took point as he lead their small team out of the ship, across the landing area and towards the massive Atlantis clone . "It's a little too quiet", Ronan said as he looked toward the silent city .Indeed, someone should have come to meet them at the landing site. The massive Victory was kind of hard to miss. Even if they had been sleeping or something, the fact armed people were heading into your city should provoke some sort of response. If this was Atlantis, he would already have called out a force. He could not see anyone though and was a little disturbing.

"Let's head toward that main tower. If this city is like Atlantis, then thats where we should find someone", John told the others. "I don't know", Teyla said, she rubbed her bare arms. It was not cold here, yet something about this place made her shiver. "It feels lifeless ",she remarked. McKay was studying the ground, "there are not any type of plant life growing here", he observed.

John could feel it too, like all life had been sucked from this place. Was it like the Victory, a place where only the dead dwelled.

They reached the bottom of the tall central spire .In front of them was a closed door. Rodney stepped forward. Now at least he could shine. Before he could find a panel to access the door controls, it opened. Rodney noted the fact that John Sheppard was standing right in front of it at the time. Maybe the city did sense his ATA gene.

"Let's take the lift to the top floor", Sheppard suggested, as he stepped inside a large cubicle. Teyla, Ronan and McKay all crowded near to him. "Top floor men's underwear", John could not help quipping. Ronan and Teyla gave him a puzzled stare, "Earth department store reference", he told them.

The lift shot upward and John found his stomach cramping as in a mere millisecond it took them to the top. Rodney was rather pale as he stumbled out of the lift and into what was a clone of the Atlantis control room. Except there was no stargate here, which could be yet another problem.

Another difference was lack of any people. "Hello", Rodney called out loudly. "That is probably not going to do anything McKay", Sheppard said. After all if a massive ship and an small armed team did not cause anyone to appear, what would a mere greeting do.

"Hello Colonel Sheppard", the voice made him jump. It sounded very familiar. John looked about, but could not see anyone. "Major West, Teyla called out. 'Yes, I am here", came the reply. ""Umm actually you are back on the Victory", Ronan said firmly. He hated freaky occurrences like these. "Yes, my body is there. My mind is here, on this world. I am trapped here and need some assistance to put myself back together',Donald West's voice told them.

This sounded like one of those difficult problems that was going to take hours for McKay to solve. "Of course we will help", Teyla responded. "We will need to figure out what to do though and proceed carefully. That might take some time".

There was a small laugh. "I can tell you what needs to be done and take you through the process. it is a lengthy one, but if you do everything I tell you, it will work ."Don West had more confidence in his voice than had ever been there before.

McKay frowned, "how do you know what to do", he demanded. His tone sounded insulting but he did not care. "Because I am an Ancient Mckay. My mind now remembers everything", Don's voice replied. "Putting those memories back has proved draining and I do not have the mental energy to extricate myself .

Just like the control room of Atlantis, this room was filled with consoles. John prowled the room searching for the source of Major West's voice. "It is better that you do not move around Colonel.. There is some very old and highly sensitive equipment here", came a warning. John froze, they really did not want more problems. Looking over at McKay John could see that his whole face was animated, he was like a child in a cake shop. McKay would want to touch most of this stuff and find out what it did.

"Just follow the Major's instructions", McKay, Sheppard ordered.

If Braxia could have smiled, he would have. He was so close to success. His mind drifted back to the moment he was imprisoned here. He had underestimated the other Ancients. They should have been to busy establishing their own lives upon Earth to worry about him. So when two of them had found him , he was completely unprepared. They conducted a mini trial, there and then finding him guilty of war crimes. He just smiled, "you just lost a war and left a galaxy at the mercy of the wraith, I am not the guilty one", he told them. "What you wanted to do, would have tainted us forever", came the reply.

You seem incapable of actually controlling yourself Braxia. So we have to find a war to permanently removed your threat ", Lorgan told him. Braxia looked at the expression on the man's face and felt chilled, "I am to be killed", he said softly, he had not expected that.

"Not killed Braxia, worse", Daina said bluntly. Her husband had been one of those who had died in the experiments, and now she was here to claim payback. "Worse than death. How can anything be worse than death", he taunted. "Because your body will die Braxia, however your mind will not. Your essence will go on, perpetually trapped in a prison. " She smiled coldly, "we are using the dreamcaster".

Braxia began to struggle then. This machine had been created many years ago, to remove fatigue from those travelling for long periods. It held your mind in a dream state, letting your body recover. While it was meant for only temporary use, it could be engineered to permanently house a consciousness, or many. It would be in some ways, a living death.

"You say what I have done is criminal yet you plan to do something equally as inhumane to me". How can you even claim to be more compassionate", he had taunted. "We are doing many galaxies a favour, Braxia. I am sure this world does not want you to inflict any of your experiments upon its people, Daina retorted. "The process is not entirely painless and once your mind is gone, your body will left to slowly decay. There will be no way back for you". She sounded satisfied.

He remembered screaming as his mind was forced from his body. His last thoughts were of the sliver of hope, that could possibly grow on the planet known as Earth. By now he could have a few young descendants who could possibly inherit his abilities. He could be reborn, in someone else body. There were ways to gain control over the dreams in dream caster projected. It might take him, a long time but eventually he would succeed.

One of the tortures the others had left was knowing what was happening in the galaxies . He could see those events ,broadcast like a dream. Atlantis had returned, raised from its sleep by descendants of the Ancients. The wraith had also returned and were decimating the populations of the Pegasus galaxy. So far the wraith did not know about the ultimate feeding ground, Earth. If they ever got there, they would become unstoppable. He had to wipe out the planet before the wraith discovered its location.

He'd not had the means to do that before. Once he was inside a human host though, he could return to Earth and put his plan into motion.

These people who had come to help him, had no idea what was about to happen. They had thought they had already encountered their trojan horse , in the shape of the Victory. But no the Victory was just another thing that served his purpose, he was the ultimate Trojan horse.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- The best case scenario

Evan Lorne jogged swiftly through the corridors of Atlantis. A few people who were moving at a slower more sedate pace, glanced worriedly at him as he passed. He knew his sped indicated some sort of crisis. While he was not quite at a crisis point yet, he was certainly deeply concerned. Colonel Caldwell had kept him occupied for hours, so he'd been unable to make sure Judy West was coping with the news of her husbands disappearance. Now , when he had time to see her, he could not find her. Evan studied the life signs monitor in his hand. He was looking for one isolated dot away from the mass. Perhaps Judy had been so distressed that she sought out solitude .

He found one possiblity and hurried in a new direction. A few turns later he found Judy sitting down on the ground staring out over the city. She was not crying ,though her face looked pale and strained. Evan cleared his throat loudly so he did not startle her. Judy looked toward him briefly, then away, her eyes returned to looking out over the edges of Atlantis. "Judy, I was worried about you", Evan said softly. Judy sniffed a little, as if trying to hold back emotion. Evan came up alongside her, and slowly sat down. She did not look at him. He sat in silence for awhile trying to find the right words to comfort her. "Don is with the best people, he finally said, Colonel Sheppard is expert at resolving all sorts of dramatic situations". "I've heard", Judy replied slightly sourly. She had so far been told at least 6 stories of some of the dangerous situations Sheppard had encountered. Maybe the Colonel actually attracted danger. She did not say that to Evan though.

Judy turned to glance at Evan and did not look away, she barely knew Don's best friend . But he had offered to help her and that was all she wanted right now. She decided she could be frank with him, "Don promised he would always find a way back to me. I believe him. So while everyone else thinks he is lost I still have hope. There is always an answer, even if it is one that may not be obvious", Judy touched Evan on the arm then looked away again out across the City. It was a beautiful day, with a deep blue sky and not even one cloud. At the edges of the city the expanse of water was still, with the reflections of the towers of the city shining in its depths Evan could see why Judy had come here, there was much more life in nature than in the walls of the city. Still this location was not one of the most beautiful, maybe Judy had chosen this viewpoint because it was closer to her apartment.

"Why don't you come back to into the City, Evan asked finally. Judy shook her head, "I like it here, it's quiet and makes me feel closer to Don", she pointed out something significant that had been staring him in the face all this time. She whispered one last sentence to him. Evan stood up, it was time for him to return to work. He was smiling as he walked down the corridor. Judy Robinson was a very smart woman.

One hour later Evan walked into Elizabeth's office. She greeted him soberly and indicated the chair. He sat, "how is Mrs West getting on Major Lorne, Elizabeth asked. "She holds onto hope Elizabeth. Her belief is that Don and the others will find a way back", Evan replied. Elizabeth sighed, "that's good that she is positive, but the longer they are missing the more fractures will appear in that hope." Evan smiled slightly , "oh I don't think she expects to wait a long time Doctor Weir. She does not know me well enough to ask for me to find a way to rescue Don and the others, she simply told me "there is always a way. It was rather significant that she was looking at the portion of the city where the Jupiter 2 is docked. That ship does have a hyper drive".

Evan paused, he was not telling Elizabeth something she did not already know. There were significant reasons why using the Jupiter 2 would not be considered. That was why he had not come to her directly, he had to make a plan first. "I believe Colonel Caldwell is focusing on a worst case scenario, the invasion of Atlantis. That blinds him from considering other avenues. If the Victory disappearing was part of a plan, then it is possible we can locate her. All we have to do is put pressure on the right point. That point would be the bogus Ancients, that came through the gate with Cellin." I suggest we ask some of our off world contacts, ,they may know of these people." Evan took a breath, "we have to be discrete ,since most of those contacts believe Atlantis has been destroyed".

So far Evan could not tell what Elizabeth was thinking. What was she going to say to him. He did not have a close relationship with her, not like his commanding officer. Elizabeth looked down for a minute, then told him seriously, "this sounds like the type of plan you should put before Colonel Caldwell".

Evan knew that she was right. But he also knew that Caldwell would say no, because of the risk to the base. But heck perhaps they were already compromised. Cellin could have sold their location to the highest bidder. But so far, no wraith had come knocking . No matter how much Cellin may have despised Braxia, Evan believed he would not throw them all to the wolves, to ensure the downfall of his enemy.

Elizabeth did not really like Caldwell either, but she was treading a rather thin tightrope between scientific research and military purpose. Caldwell could be the one to push her off that rope, and make sure Atlantis was purely a military base. So they had to be discrete. Caldwell was not on the base at the moment, stationing himself on board the Daedulaus and waiting for the arrival of an attack force. That meant he would at least not be around to veto using the stargate. Still he could hear about a plan from any one of the military personal . Elizabeth wondered what Evan planned to actually do.

"We are running rather low on resources, so I am going on a mission, to obtain foodstuffs and blankets from several of our off world friends. I am sure the trips will sound like the most boring yet necessary trips to everyone", Evan told her.

His answer was a beaming smile. Elizabeth sobered for a minute, "you realise that Caldwell will most likely suspect that you are engaged in other activities". Evan nodded, he knew how this was going to end , with his dismissal from duty in Atlantis. He had already crossed the line and mouthed off at Caldwell, so when he disobeyed orders it would be a step too far. Caldwell expected that sort of thing from Sheppard or Don not him. He would say he'd been right and Don was a bad influence. The irony was that perhaps Don would end up staying here . Evan sucked out a breath, so what if his tenure at Atlantis came to an end. It would be worth it if the others were rescued.

"Lets start at PS1755, Evan suggested, he named a planet where trading with others was the sole purpose of the settlements. There were a lot of travellers through that worlds major city ,so his teams presence would not seem unusual .

"You have a go Major, good luck", Elizabeth told him. "Thank you Doctor Weir", Evan replied. He had already picked out three officers to accompany him. He knew that by the time he got down to the gate, they would be ready to go. "Dial the gate Doctor Weir ordered.

Evan fell in beside the two Lieutenants . "Lets move out', he told them.

xxxxxx

John felt like a spare part at the moment. McKay was totally focused upon undertaking the tasks Donald West's voice instructed. Despite the earlier warning he wandered a little away from McKay and looked over at the mass of consoles around him. He recognised quite a few ,as they were identical to those in Atlantis. There were some odd ones though. This place was very high tech and could possibly have a very ZPMs lying around. John wondered if he could ask West if there were any .

He turned intending on going back to Ronon and Teyla , a flashing light on one console caught his attention, hadn't it been all dark just a moment ago. He was about to ask McKay if he was causing the console to react when something else happened.

Ronon looked over at Sheppard, he was feeling twitchy and wondering if he could ask to go and explore the rest of this world. Standing around while McKay proved his intellectual superiority was not a high on his list of priorities. Sheppard seemed so be staring into nothingness . When he had not moved for several minutes Ronon elbowed Teyla and pointed to Sheppard.

Teyla studied Sheppard's face, was something wrong, she seemed to think so, he was almost too still and quite. She and Ronan quietly walked toward Sheppard. They were within inches of him when he his face and eyes seemed to come alive. He held a finger to his lips for a moment, nodded toward McKay, then said "McKay, we are going to head back to the ship for a moment, I have a headache and need to get some relief from the first aid box".

McKay hardly even looked at him, just raising a hand in response. Usually he'd be jumpy about being left alone, but he did not raise even a slight protest. He was too busy trying to look good and not have to ask Don West to explain his instructions.

Sheppard took Teyla's hand and nudged Ronan forward, they moved rapidly from the control room ,down the lift and back outside. Sheppard finally stopped, "we need to go and investigate something", he said to Teyla and Ronan. "So you don't have headache ", Ronan clarified. "Not right now, but I am sure I am going to get one", Sheppard replied.

Teyla raised an eyebrow at him, "where are we going', she asked. "Over there, Sheppard pointed out one of the smaller spires. "Why', Teyla asked. 'Because I need to see something", Sheppard replied mysteriously. "

John led them through the silent city. Neither Ronan or Teyla spoke as they walked, their eyes were never still darting from left to right. He knew why they felt slightly spooked, because this place not only looked dead, it had a certain feeling to it as well. Like nothing ever smiled here.

"It looks so much like Atlantis, Teyla reflected, but kind of like a shadow of our city, if you know what I mean".

"I do, John replied. Ronon, who really did not express his feelings about many places said softly, "it is like the feeling you get after a battle, when you look and see the dead and dying."

"Yeah", John agreed, soberly. The continued onto to the small spire. Its door only opened when Sheppard stood in front. Inside was a site that prompted a low whistle from John Sheppard. Starting by the door and stretching outward and upward were statis chambers . Each one held a person. "So we have found all the citizens of this world", Sheppard remarked. He strolled over to take a look at the first one. "They look like they are all ready just to step out and restart their lives."

Ronon turned to Sheppard, "how did you know they were here", he demanded. " A console in the main spire turned on for a second , illuminating this part of the City. Then an arrow appeared and began to flash on and off . I though that meant to go to where it directed." "Alright I am here", he said to the air.

Nothing happened. He shrugged, "well that was worth a try". He began to pace, "alright we know from what Major West told us, that their were definitely people in this city. He could see and interact with them while 'dreaming. Yet he does not mention the presence of all these statis chambers to McKay." Why", Sheppard asked.

Teyla did not have to think about the answer to that question for long. "Perhaps, he just wants to get back to his body, then deal with other issues". "Yeah,that sounds right", Ronon agreed. Sheppard , swept his arm wide, " all these people must want out of statis", he remarked.

"Maybe West does not know about them", Ronon theorised. Sheppard shook his head, almost immediately, "that does not make sense. Because he also said that they were waiting for him to come home. Surely there would not just be a few poeple on a planet. If he was interacting with some of them in a dream state, then perhaps their minds are trapped as well". But he failed to mention that". Then we have the fact that a console just turns on and shows us all this". Something fishy is going on".

Since he'd used that term before both Teyla and Ronon knew he was not referring to actual fish. "I agree, there is something off about this world". But what".

"Yes and do we need to feel worried about the fact that McKay is altering those consoles", Teyla added. "Indeed, how do we know what he is actually doing. We only have Ancient West's word that McKay is working on putting his consciousness and body back together. Sheppard frowned some more, "you would think they would need West's body here, for that purpose. Is his consciousness just going to fly back to his body". He rubbed his temple, he really was getting a headache now.

"So what are we going to do", Teyla asked Sheppard. All the questions were really accomplishing nothing. For a reply Sheppard gestured follow me. They headed out of the room and back the way they came.

McKay was still muttering to himself. "You are nearly there McKay, just move that red crystal from the bottom to the forth empty space, make sure it does not touch any of the other components", West's voice instructed.

"Alright, alright, I have to finish your last list of instructions first", McKay stated. He sounded frazzled now. "You should be able to move at a faster rate McKay, complained West. McKay's sour look would have made him regret words like that. But of course West could not see his face. McKay would be tense now and that would not help. He bent over ready to begin his work again. It was the perfect time to add some more trouble into the mix.

"Stop", Sheppard interjected loudly

McKay actually froze still as a statue. After a few seconds he turned a frustrated look on Sheppard. "Colonel, you are interrupting a delicate operation." "I am sure", Sheppard replied steadily. "Before you continue, I need some answers from Major West".

Colonel Sheppard, McKay is correct, you are interfering with a process you know nothing about. I am sure you do have questions, I will do my best to answer all of them once my mind and body are functioning together", West stand firmly.

It sounded reasonable, but Sheppard did not want to be reasonable. "You will answer those questions now, or the work does not continue", he said firmly. He wondered what response he'd get to that.

There was a few seconds of silence then, "I cannot answer your questions Colonel, I need to be complete to do that. Being separate like this is actually painful and you are prolonging my agony". There was a little emotion in the voice now.

Teyla gave him a look that was meant to convene sympathy, she knew that people acted strangely when in pain and was sure that was why Major West was acting out of character. She was like that, a warrior, yet also someone who cared passionately . Sheppard could not afford react emotionally. It was not that he did not have sympathy for the situation West found himself in, of course he did. It was just that it felt a little like he was being manipulated. The talk of pain had only come after he'd asked McKay to stop his work. In a steady voice he stated, " I do need some answers. Why are there thousands of people in statis pods",

McKay sucked in a gasp. "Thousands", he repeated. "Yes, thousands , Sheppard stated.

Inwardly Braxia cursed, this had been going so well. McKay was working slower than he expected, but progress was being made. The scientist thought he was freeing his mind, but in reality he was disabling all the security systems in this prison, so that an escape would be easier. This interference was troubling, because how had Sheppard found out about the others.

He would have considered the fact that West's consciousness was behind this. But that was impossible. West was secure in a cell , which should inhibit all his efforts to manipulate Ancient technology. Of course it was possible to break the mind free, just like he had done, but that should take years to accomplish, not mere hours.

So maybe it was just Sheppard himself, as he did possess the Ancient gene. Braxia could feel his effect on the technology around him. He would have to be cautious with how he replied to Sheppard's questions.

"I am waiting for an answer", Sheppard insisted. "Well I suppose I did not think too deeply about the possibility there were more people. I had only met a few. All I wanted to do was wake up. That is not an unreasonable thing to want Colonel," Braxia told him.

"Of course it is not unreasonable", Teyla said "It must feel odd. But you can see things and interact. How far can you take that, can you interact with the other people in statis".

Sheppard smiled widely, Teyla had tactical thinking. It was the job of all good soldiers to find out more about their locations as well as any inhabitants.

Drat they were complicating things Braxia, fumed. He should have found a way to kill the others and just brought West and McKay here. It was too late now. He would have to veto any suggestions to explore further while out of body and get McKay to undertake more work. To do the he'd just relate his colleagues meeting with West.

"All I saw was a handful of people and a lovely beach. Those people disappeared after that first initial greeting and I have not managed to regain contact. When I explored that beach it went on and on, never seeming to have a end. I guess to explore further I would have to have my body back, which is what I need McKay to do".

Sheppard felt himself frown and saw the same expression on Teyla, Ronon and Rodney's face. "You don't see", Rodney began before Sheppard hurried over and kicked him in the shins.

"Don't see what", Braxia asked hurriedly. "A city devoid of life", Ronon responded. That was a safe enough thing to say he thought.

It was also an easy thing for Braxia to answer. "Oh, no wonder you are feeling a little spooked". You have obviously found a place I cannot go without my body, which brings me back to the same problem", he told them.

He was pushing them again, hoping that their questions would not continue. Of course he knew they were talking about the prison. But it was better to deny all knowledge of that place, in case the others had figured out what it really was.

John wandered around the room, thinking carefully about what his next question should be. He stopped at the window and looked out over the Atlantis clone. It's darkness was uninspiring, but it did make him feel closer to home. As he stared at the familiar spires, they rippled and faded away. In their place was ruins. Sheppard heard Teyla and Ronon suck in a gasp. Now the city looked even worse, shattered and broken, an empty shell.

"What just happened", Teyla asked. "Yeah, it looked like Atlantis, then it did not", Ronon echoed.

John turned around, Rodney had been staring in their direction and had also noticed the change. In response he looked all around the room. John's own eyes followed McKay's skimming over the mass of consoles until they stopped at one that could easily have been overlooked. It was tucked away in the shadows of more massive ones.

"There is a dream console here as well", John whispered to Ronon and Teyla. He really had no idea why he was whispering, it just seemed appropriate. John hurried to McKay's side. "Is the dream console here, making us see Atlantis", he asked McKay.

"It does not look active", McKay stated. "Neither did the one on the ship", Teyla reminded him. "So is it you doing this, Ronon said to Sheppard. He meant the ATA gene. John thought really hard about Atlantis again, the image of the ruined city remained. "No, John said slowly , I don't think it was me."

"Then...Teyla was about to ask who it could be, when the rippling passed over the ruined City and the image of Atlantis returned. Only this time ,there was an extra detail that had not been there before.

"Mckay",Sheppard knew his voice sounded strangled. Rodney turned to look out the window again and saw that little extra detail. He had the worst feeling rising up within him now. That extra detail would only be put there by someone who felt it was important, who had history with that particular thing. That was not any of them.

"You need to continue work McKay", came the plea . That voice sounded so much like West. Yet now McKay suspected it was not. It was the image of the Jupiter 2 appearing out of nothingness, that had convinced him. There were two dream consoles and West was obviously still connected to one of them. But someone else was using the other one and if they had to pretend to be West, then the odds were ,they were not friendly. He stepped back from the console he'd been working upon rapidly ,like it was poisoned.

Rodney stood closer to John Teyla and Ronon, as if needing protection. Sheppard just pointed, back the way they came. He intended to go back to the ship and get McKay to try to turn off the dream machine there.

They made it as far as the door. It simply would not open. When Rodney reached out try and find a way to manually open it, he was zapped by a low level shock. "You will not be leaving ", Braxia told them.

It was obvious that for some reason they were now suspicious. So much for the easy way. "McKay you will finish the work", Braxia demanded.

"No, Rodney stated firmly. he was not one for subtefuge and did not think that a disembodied voice could be much of a threat. So he simply blurted out, "we want to know who you really are".

Braxia fumed, something must have tipped them off. Still he did not matter. He had to show them who was in control.

His mind touched another device and activated the controls. A small force field, came down around Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard. It just missed McKay.

Rodney found he could not touch the others, though they still looked alright. "I can control any console within this place McKay. This one is for security purposes, it can isolate a small group of people and if necessary kill them where they stand. He caused a ripple to run through the sheild and fell a small burst of excitement as Sheppard and the others felt intense pain.

Rodney could see tears in Teyla's eyes. Sheppard was giving him this staunch, "don't give in " look. But he knew that it could get far worse for the trio.

" Get back to work now or I kill them "Braxia snapped out his demand.

Feeling like his feet had lead weights upon them Rodney turned back to the console.

Don felt defeated. He had hoped nobody would blurt out the fact the person speaking was not him. All the clues he had given them, had led up to this moment. He'd been thinking of Atlantis since the moment they landed and found that the dream machine on the Victory, made his thoughts come to life. Yet, it could not get him out of a cell.

He knew that the others were in mortal danger. There had to be a way to fight back more effectively. He could feel that his body was failing though, so knew there was very little time left.


End file.
